mm 


wmfflMmMm 


>  -  »  *  i  '  >  - 1  ■  i  ■  i  j  t  -  i  * 


^.S^vWSWv-^v;'    vrtv'-v:  :•"'  ■  "■' 


lllii 


11111 

111111% 

1111111111 

Will 
iBi 

■ 


mm 

tJiiiiiiiiii 


■I 


Tvl  FE    OF 


ev.U/.S.Balep 


By  H.  Slade. 


v* 


wK/SKm 
■p 


1  i  I  i      ,\,KU1: 


\    • 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

B 
B1743S 


I 


% 


\  -  /     / 


<n'A    V,, 


: 


3SSC 


fv ; 


Hi 


6) 


Kfe.    h  .  rvttMlA   t   Ct     LlTH.     OOSTH 


Till-   LIFE  AND  LABORS 


OF  THE    I.  \TK 


Rev.  William  Stevens  Balcb 


WITH    AN    iHTI.I  N  1     I  'I 


HIS  WRITINGS  AND  DISCOURSES 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  AND  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  INCIDENTS, 

TRAVELS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE,  DURING 

A  HISTORY  OF  MORE  THAN 

SIXTY  YEARS. 


REV.  H.  SLADE. 


His  youth  was  innocent,  his  riper  age 

Marked  with  some  act  of  goodness  every  day  ; 

And  watched  with  eyes  that  loved  him,  calm  and  sage, 

Faded  his  late  declining  years  away. 

Meekly  he  gave  his  being  up,  and  went 

To  share  the  holy  rest  that  waits  a  life  well  spent.'" 

— Brya  nt. 


<  UK  !AG< 

[•KIN  I  ED  A.M>  BOUND  BY 

DONOHUE  &  BENNEBEBRY 

L888. 


T'>    ALL    THOSE    FOR    WHOM    CHRISTIANITY    CAME    [NTO    THE 
WOULD  TO  DO  ITS  WORK  OF  HEALING  AND  BLESSING; 

FOB   WHOM   FAITH  AND  HOPE  AUK  HORN.  AND  PRAYEB  IS  HAD, 

AND  PRAISES  BUNG,  AND  SYMPATHY  AND 

CHARITY  EXPRESSED; 

TO  THE  SORROWING  ONES  OF  EARTH,  THE  UNFORTUNATE  AND 

REREAYED,  THE   SICK   AND  THE  DYING: 

A  N  1 1 

TO    THE    CATHOLIC    UNITY    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    FAITH: 

THIS   VOLUME    IS 

RESPECTFULLY  AND  AFFFJ  TIONATELY   INSCRIBED 


BY    T1IK1K    SINCERE 

FRIEND  AND  BROTHER. 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  the  record  of  the  personal  history  of  the  Rev.  Will- 
iams. Raich,  and  selecting  and  arranging  events  and  incidents  for 
holding  up  the  mirror  of  the  deeds  of  him  whom  we  seek  to  bring 
prominently  to  your  notice,  that  others  may  be  induced  to  follow  his 
example  and  feel  the  influence  of  his  many  virtues,  it  will  be  the  aim, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  let  the  subject  of  this  memoir  speak  for  himself. 
We  have  found  ourselves  chiefly  encouraged  in  these  labors  from 
the  fact  that  his  was  a  life  uncommonly  eventful,  and  from  the  great 
number  of  stirring  incidents  and  occurrences  calculated  to  enhance 
the  intrinsic  value  of  the  volume.  His  friendly  suggestions  of  wis- 
dom, strung  like  pearls  through  all  his  writings,  calculated  to  arrest 
every  class  of  minds  and  awaken  them  to  the  vast  importance  of  vir- 
tuous living,  is  what  must  make  this  work  dearer  to  the  reader  than 
aught  else  beside.  We  would  not  speak  in  any  strain  of  studied 
eulogy,  and  may  not  claim  for  any  person  on  earth  that  he  is  perfect, 
for  perfection  does  not  belong  to  this  world. 

It  is  but  justly  due  that  I  should,  before  passing,  express  my 
most  sincere  and  unfeigned  thanks  for  the  varied  assistance  rendered 
me  by  many  friends  who  have  kindly  aided  me  in  my  work. 

I  much  value  the  words  of  the  one  dearest  to  me  (now  passed  to 
the  spirit  home),  who  in  her  absence  writing  me,  says:  "  I  am  sure 
if  you  could  gather  the  inspiration  to  do  justice  to  so  good  a  man, 
you  have  no  need  to  go  farther  to  write  up  one  of  the  grandest  lives 
the  world  has  ever  witnessed .  You  have  almost  worshiped  him, 
and  your  fault  is  likely  to  be  the  coloring  of  the  picture.  Wliai  you 
need  to  do  is  to  write  a  candid  memoir,  that   will  throw  his  virtues 

iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

uppermost;  his  strong  mind,  his  strict  integrity,  his  humility,  his 
loving  sympathy  with  the  weak,  the  poor  and  the  oppressed.  He 
has  always  felt  that  truth  was  mighty  and  must  prevail,  and  there- 
fore was  tireless  in  maintaining  what  he  deemed  to  be  right.  Aye, 
indeed,  such  a  noble  life  can  be  written  from  material  so  truthful, 
so  beautiful,  so  substantial,  that  even  his  enemies  (if  he  had  them) 
would  be  obliged  to  say,  '  That  is  Brother  Balch.'" 

Nothing  is  truer  than  the  above.  And  I  shall  endeavor  to  be 
truthful  in  my  utterances,  and  trust  that  the  reader  will  be  enabled 
to  form  some  partially  adequate  conception  of  the  character  sought 
to  be  portrayed.  And  we  tender  our  work  to  all  who  shall  care  to 
peruse  it,  in  the  hope  that  it  will  be  valuable  to  many  who  are  pur- 
suing the  chart  of  life's  voyage,  in  being  a  solace  and  comfort,  as 
well  as  an  inspiration  to  fortitude  and  courage  and  manliness  of 
mien.  We  have  no  wish  or  desire  more  holy  than  that  the  gift  we 
here  bring  you,  in  the  thoughts  evoked  from  our  subject,  shall  fill 
your  souls  with  all  beneficent  feelings  and  impulses,  as  they  have 
glowed  and  burned  in  our  own  during  these  months  in  which  we 
have  pondered  and  written. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEB  I. 

PAGE. 

Passed  on  to  the  Higher  Life: — Time  of  Death  with  No- 
tices by  Elgin  Pastors  —  Lines  by  Miss  E.  J.  Stickney — 
Object  of  this  Work  —  Biography  and  Auto-Biography  Dis- 
tinguished—  Materials  Gathered  from  Fragmentary  Mem- 
oranda       13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Ancestry: — The  General  Aim  in  Tracing  it  —  No  Claim  of 
High  Ancestry,  but  Well  Enough  Descended  —  Every  Per- 
son Ranked  by  Merit,  and  Held  to  Strict  Responsibility 23 

CHAPTER  III. 

Parentage: — His  Father,  Joel  Balch,  a  Representative  Man  of 
Vermont  — His  Mother,  Betsey  Stevens,  Daughter  of  William 
Stevens,  Gave  to  Him  His  Name  —  Her  Early  Death  and  the 
Death  of  a  Sister  had  a  Marked  Influence  upon  his  Cbsrj  c- 
ter 27 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Burnt  and  Childhood: — Place  of  Birth — His  Childhood 
Like  Most  Poor  Farmers  —  Plain  Living  —  Strict  Discipline 
—  A  Great  Lover  of  Nature  Giving  Him  an  Early  Desire  for 
Travel 31 

CHAPTER  V. 

Boyhood  and  Youth: — His  Early  Days  full  of  Work — Oppor- 
tunities for  Learning  Limited  to  Few  Books — His  Thoughts 
Enlarged  from  Reading  Chalmers  on  Astronomy — His  Dis- 
like of  Cruelty,  War  And  Bloodshed— The  Bible  His  Chief 
Study — A  Strong  Desire  to  Understand  About  Religious 
Matters 33 


\  i  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE. 

Years  of  Teaching  While  Maturing  His  Views  op  Relig- 
ion:— Left  Home  at  Sixteen  for  Teaching — Shortly  After 
Went  to  Teach  in  His  Brother's  School,  in  New  York  City — 
His  Singular  Passage — Disgusted  With  the  City,he  Left  After 
Three  Months  —  Started  in  to  be  a  Butcher,  but  Immediately 
Abandoned  it  Returning  to  His  Home,  and  to  Teaching  as 
Formerly — His  Thoughts  Have  Been  Given  a  Somewhat  Dif- 
ferent Turn,  and  He  Now  Goes  to  Pursue  His  Studies  in  the 
Home  of  Rev.  Mr.  Somland,  Universalist — Hears  Other  Vari- 
eties of  Preaching — Would  Like  to  be  a  Preacher,  but  Thinks 
it  out  of  the  Question — Goes  Back  to  His  Brother's  School  in 
New  York  — While  There  is  Tried  With  What  He  Hears 
Preached 47 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Conversion  to  Universalis!!: — Commences  to  Attend  Different 
Churches — Hears  New  Views  Which  Seem  Consonant  With 
His  Reason  and  Affections — Continues  to  Investigate  till  His 
Mind  Becomes  Settled — Joins  a  Universalist  Church  —  Sells 
out  His  Position  in  School  and  Takes  up  a  New  System  of 
Grammar — The  Ministry  Now  Impressed  Upon  His  Mind  as 
The  Plain  Course  for  Him  to  Pursue 64 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Character  As  a  Preacher: — The  Ministry  His  Great  Leading 
Purpose — His  Were  Sermons;  not  Essays — His  Style  Simple 
— A  Great  Preacher  Because  a  Greater  Teacher — A  Self-made 
Man,  Only  God  Made  Him — His  Sermons  Intensely  Practical 
— A  Great  Reformer — A  Memorable  Sermon  Before  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  in  1840 — His  High  Ground  Upon  the  Reform 
Character  of  Our  Religion,  Placing  Him  in  the  Front  Rank — 
Always  a  Universalist,  but  Never  a  Bigot — His  the  True  View 
of  Liberality — Holding  to  a  few  Fundamentals  with  Greatest 
Tenacity,  He  Was  Still  Opposed  to  too  Much  Creed-Theology 
— Thought  by  Some  to  be  Belligerant — Always  Open  and 
Above  Board — Honored  by  his  Publications — His  Spirit 
Missionary  as  Shown  by  all  His  Societies — His  Preaching  in 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire   in    1827-8 — Taking  Him  a 


CONTENTS.  VI 1 

CHAPTER  VIII—  Continued. 

i*  \<;k. 
Wife  and  Going  to  Albany  in  1829 — Watertown,  Mass.,  in 
1830— Claremont,  N.  H.,  in  1832— Providence,  R.  L,  in 
1836 — New  York  City  in  1841 — Preaching  Seventeen  Years 
in  Ne  w  York,  He  Thought  to  Retire  to  a  Rural  Plome  in  Lud- 
low, Vt. — Left  Ludlow,  Coming  West  in  1865 — His  Ministry 
From  that  on,  in  Galesburg,  Hinsdale,  Elgin,  111.,  and 
Dubuque,  Iowa — His  Last  Years  Mostly  Spent  in  Elgin  in  a 
Settlement  of  Some  Six  Years — His  Pastorate  in  Dubuque 
from  1877  to  1880 — Testimonials  of  Friends — Lengthy  Ser- 
mons— His  Powers  of  Eloquence  Which  Made  Him  Sought 
After  for  Funeral  and  Other  Occasions,  and  Brought  Him 
Near  to  the  Hearts  of  Many  78 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Social  and  Sympathetic  Qualities  as  a  Pastor: — His  Won- 
derful Social  and  Sympathetic  Nature,  in  Which  Christian- 
ity Found  His  Heart — His  Religion  in  the  Direction  of 
Humanity,  Seizing  All  Opportunities  for  Doing  Good — 
His  Relations  Those  of  Love  and  Good  Will — His  Presence 
a  Benediction  in  the  Home  of  the  Sorrowing — Mrs.  Saule, 
"  Tender,  Reverent,  Memory  " 155 

CHAPTER  X. 

Sermons  and  Extracts: — His  Number  of  Published  Sermons 
Not  Great — Largely  of  a  Monitory  Character — Sermon 
Preached  Before  the  Illinois  State  Convention — "  The  Puri- 
fying Nature,  and  Good  of  Universalism  " — Its  teaching — 
The  Character  of  the  Believer — "The  Pastor's  Duty" — 
"  The  future  Life  "  a  Progress  and  Growth — An  Occasional 
Sermon  on  ' '  Working  the  Works  of  God " — Need  of 
Organization,  but  Work  More — A  Work  of  Our  Own 
Hearts — Personal  and  Denominational — Our  Name  an  Excel 
lent  One — "Creeds  and  Sects  in  Heaven  " — "  What  Heaven 
is  Like" — "  Teachings  of  Jesus  " — Written  Articles  and  Ad 
dresses — "  The  Changed  Condition  of  Thought  and  Feeling, 
Demanding  a  Change  of  Action  " — Fraternal  Feeling  Among 
Brethren — His  Views  of  Future  Punishment — Refused  to 
Speculate  Concerning  Such  Matters — Many  Articles   "On 


Vill  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X— Continued. 

PAGE. 

the  Situation" — "Denominational  Policy" — "The  Profes- 
sion of  Belief" — "Have  to  Advance  the  Church" — "  The 
True  Object  of  Religious  Organization  " — "Fifty  Years  Ago 
and  Now" — "To  Whom  is  Universalism  Acceptable" — 
Incidents  Showing  this  Last 164 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Letters  and  Correspondence  : — Wide  Reputation  as  a 
Writer  —  Uncommon  Power  of  Narration  —  His  Enlarged 
Correspondence  With  Friends — To  be  Squared  Up  at  the 
End  of  the  Year  —  These,  Occasions  of  Moralizing  —Finds 
Much  to  do  After  Concluding  His  Pastorates — Just  as 
Anxious  for  the  Cause  —  Feels  a  Strangeness  in  Being 
What  He  Calls  '  'a  Boarder  i  n  His  Own  House" — Is  More  and 
More  Convinced  That  the  Plain  Gospel  is  What  Must  Save 
the  World 208 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Journeys  and  Travels: — A'  Great  Admirer  of  Nature  — 
Wanted  to  go  Into  the  World  to  See  It  —  A  Strange  Desire 
to  Visit  Where  Jesus  Had  Stood  and  Taught  —  To  Become 
More  Familiar  With  Scenes  and  Events  of  Ancient  History 
His  After  Delight  in  Lecturing  Upon  These  Subjects  — 
What  persons  Have  Said  of  These  Lectures  —  For  What 
Purpose  He  Traveled  at  Home  and  Abroad  —  His  "  Ireland 
As  I  Saw  It  "  —  The  Dreadful  Condition  of  That  People- 
Worse  Than  the  American  Slave  System  —  The  Responsi- 
ble Parties  —  His  Sympathies  Ever  With  the  Common  Peo- 
ple—His Politics  —  Never  of  a  Partizan  Character  —  Was 
the  People's  Man  —  Opposed  to  Aristocracy — Large  Work 
to  be  Done  Among  the  Rich  —  Town  and  Country  Life  — 
Wickedness  of  Cities  —  How  Wealth  is  Produced  —  A 
Lesson  from  New  York  City—  His  Identification  With  What 
Was  Termed  the  "  Darr  Rebellion "  While  Yet  a  Peace 
Man  —He  is  Called  In  to  Help  Quell  the  Violent  Spirit  that 
had  Been  Evoked  —  His  Second  Visit  Abroad  —  Makes  His 
Way  Hurriedly  Along  Over  Countries  Visited  Previously— 
Speaks  of  the  Beautiful  but  Bigoted   Scotland  —  Germany 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XII— Continued. 

PAGE. 

and  Switzerland  Cast  in  the  Shade  by  the  Holy  Land  — 
Bemoans  the  Condition  of  the  People  'Till  His  Heart  is 
Sad  —  Crosses  the  Adriatic  Bound  for  the  Orient  —  His  Im- 
pressions of  the  Holy  Land  —  The  Sacred  and  Memorable 
Jerusalem  —  Sad  Thoughts  of  the  Desolation  Which  Only 
Christianity  Can  Cure  —  Sets  Out  On  His  Rtturn  Home- 
ward —  A  Poetic  Effusion  on  "  Crossing  the  Desert  "  from 
Palestine  to  Egypt  —  Another  on  "Desert  Life"  —  A 
Christmas  Service  and  Hymn  —  Other  Visits  to  California, 

Mexico  and  Florida 225 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Home  Life  and  Varied  Employments: — Thoughtful  and  Indul- 
,K  gent  as  a  Husband  and  Father — A  Great  Lover  of  Children — 
Always  Glad  at  Their  Gladness —  Wrote  the  First  Sunday- 
School  Manual  —  Introduced  the  First  Sunday-School  Exhi- 
bition, as  Then  Called — And  the  First  Picnic  Excursion — A 
Man  of  Varied  Employments — Great  Versatility  of  Tal- 
ent— Knew  How  to  do  Almost  Everything — How  Regarded 
by  Brother  Read — What  Another  Says  of  Him — A  Good 
Counselor — An  Excellent  Parishioner  as  Well  as  Preach- 
er— His  Simplicity  of  Character  That  Allied  Him  to  All 
Classes  of  People  —  His  Aversion  to  All  Titles  of  Honor  — 
The  D.  D.  not  Accepted  by  Him —  Brother  Balch  a  Diffident 
Man  — A  Man  of  Large  Service —  Did  not  Abate  His  Activ- 
ity WTith  the  Coming  on  of  Age  —  His  Great  Woik  the  Es- 
tablishment of  the  Canton  Theological  School 268 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Disinterested  Character:  —  His  Sacrifice  of  Himself  to 
Make  Others  Happier  and  the  World  Better — Wealth 
to  be  Valued  Principally  for  its  Beneficent  Uses  —  In  the 
Compensation  of  His  Preaching  Services  as  in  Every- 
thing else — The  Raising  of  Many  a  Secondary  Matter  in 
Promoting  the  Cause  of  Religion  —  He  Believed  in  no 
Merely  Fiscal  or  Monetary  Organization  —  Xever  Made  it  a 
Matter  of  Arrangement  to  be  Paid  a  Particular  Sum  for  His 
Services — On  Large  Salaries — Advice  to  Young  Men  En- 
tering the  Ministry  — The  Worldly  Minded  not  Qualified  to 
be  Preachers 292 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PAGE. 

Sickness,  Death  and  Burial: — Naturally  of  a  Hardy  Constitu- 
tion —  His  Health  Much  Impaired  in  all  His  Early  Years  by 
Close  Application  to  Study  and  Overtasking  His  Energies  — 
His  Later  Years  Much  Improved  —  His  Last  Sickness  not 
Protracted  —  His  Sinking  Hours  Painless — A  Grand  End- 
ing of  a  Grand  Life  —  He  had  no  Fear  of  Death  —  It  Only 
Dismissed  Him  to  a  Higher  Life  —  It  was  a  Step  Forward 
in  an  Eudless  Career  —  It  was  the  Suggestion  of  His  Moral 
Reason  —  To  Strike  off  the  Future  Made  it  a  Sadly  Unfin- 
ished Thing  —  His  Impressive  Funeral  Obsequies  —  His  Life 
a  Consecrated  One  Fulfilling  Faithfully  His  Appointed 
Years  —  The  Kind  of  Christian  He  Was  —  The  many  Hearts 
Moved  by  Him  — The  Many  Persons  to  Speak  of  His 
Death  —  The  Letters  of  Condolence  to  Mrs.  Balch,  And 
of  Commendation  to  the  Author  —  Resolutions  From  Min- 
isterial Circles  and  Societies  —  The  Glowing  Tribute  Paid 
Him  at  the  Reception  and  Banquet  Given  Upon  the  Oc- 
casion of  His  Eightieth  Birthday  — The  Lesson  to  be 
Learned  From  the  Good  Man's  Life —  The  Inscription  to  be 
Placed  Upon  His  Tombstone 303 


THE  LIFE  AND  LABORS 

OF    THE    LATE 

REV.  WILLIAM  STEVENS  BALCH 


CHAPTER  I. 

PASSED  ON  TO  THE  HIGHER  LIFE. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  1887.  there  appeared  in 
the  local  papers  of  Elgin,  111.,  worthy  notices  of  the 
death  of  Rev.  William  S.  Balch,  occurring  on  the  day 
previous,  and  the  following  tribute  of  deferential  re- 
spect and  esteem  by  the  pastor  of  the  Universalist 
church.  Rev.  A.  X.  Alcott : 

A    NOBLE    LIFE    ENDED. 

"  On  Christmas  day,  not  far  from  noontide,  almost 
while  the  Christmas  songs  and  services  at  our  churches 
were  in  the  air,  Rev.  W.  S.  Balch  quietly  and  without 
suffering  breathed  his  last.  The  morning  hymns  and 
prayers  had  gone  before,  as  incense,  as  it  wee,  to 
prepare  his  way.  He  followed  quickly  these  spiritual 
forerunners  to  the  land  of  beauty.  The  day  com- 
memorated as  the  birthday  of  the  world's  Redeemer, 
proved  to  be  also,  as  we  trust,  the  second  birthday 
of  our  old  and  much  esteemed  friend  and  long-tried 
comrade  in  the  battle  for  holiness  in  the  earth  —  his 

13 


14  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

birthday  into  the  realm  of  glory  to  wear  the  crown 
of  righteousness  for  evermore. 

"  Thus  has  closed  a  long  and  remarkable  career.  He 
has  been  known  throughout  the  East  and  West,  and 
everywhere  had  a  host  of  acquaintances  and  friends. 
His  spirit  was  large  and  generous,  and  his  heart  was 
very  tender.  His  mind  was  accustomed  to  broad,  com- 
prehensive views  on  all  subjects.  He  sympathized  with 
all  ranks  and  conditions  of  men,  and  no  one  stood 
more  clearly,  consciously  and  heartily  than  he  on  that 
plane  of  intellectual  hospitality  which  is  as  wide  as 
the  race.  He  was  an  ardent  and  practical  lover  of 
all  that  was  noble  and  good  in  man,  and  an  ardent 
and  practical  hater  of  selfishness,  greed,  hypocrisy 
and  pretense.  His  influence  has  been  great  and  wide. 
He  has  lived  a  consistent,  noble,  energetic,  good  life. 
We  may  all  thank  God  for  him.  He  has  been  an 
ornament  to  the  Universalist  denomination,  an  able 
and  eloquent  workman  in  it,  and  continued  to  feel  as 
keen  an  interest  in  its  well-being  in  his  recent  months 
and  days  of  failing  strength,  as  when  he  first  con- 
secrated his  young  manhood  and  loyal  heart  to  its 
service.  Nothing  in  his  life  will  ever  cause  regret 
or  shame  to  any  of  us ;  but  rather  his  whole  life  and 
work  will  ever  be  a  cause  for  gratitude  and  pride. 
His  work  has  been  true,  open,  devoted,  self-sacrificing, 
grand.  And  those  who  now  mourn  his  loss  —  and 
there  will  be  many  of  them  —  may  be  partially  com- 
forted by  the  reflection  that  though  his  bodily  form 
and  genial  presence  and  words  of  cheer  will  be  with 
us  no  more,  yet  his  excellent  example  will  remain  to 
us  as  an  indestructible  inheritance,  and  worth  more 
than  rubies." 

Perhaps  no  one  of  our  ministers  had  enjoyed  a 
fuller  or  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  our  excellent 
brother,  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  than  brother 
Brighain,  who  had  been  a  recent  pastor  of  the  church 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  15 

at  Elgin — and  he  is  pleased  to  speak  of  him   in  the 
following  manner : 

"  In  the  death  of  Rev.  W.  S.  Balch,  D.  D.,  the 
Universal ist  church  loses  one  of  its  oldest  and  most 
respected  ministers,  and  the  church  universal  one  of  its 
most  devout  and  saintly  characters.  He  was  widely 
and  favorably  known  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
his  name  was  a  household  word  in  all  Universalist 
families.  His  eminent  services  to  the  church  and 
cause  of  righteousness  entitle  him  to  be  ranked  as  one 
of  the  foremost  preachers  of  his  generation.  His  active 
and  able  participation  in  the  temperance  cause,  and  all 
other  moral  questions  brought  oefore  the  American 
people  for  the  past  sixty  years,  clearly  rank  him  as  one 
of  our  most  worthy  and  highly  respected  citizens.  He 
was  closely  identified  with  the  history  of  our  church, 
and  his  life  and  labors  did  much  to  obtain  for  us  a 
recognition  and  to  lay  the  foundation  for  our  prosper- 
ity as  a  Christian  church.  This  generation  cannot 
fully  realize  the  difficulties  under  which  he  labored, 
nor  overestimate  the  value  of  his  services  on  behalf  of 
our  church.  Dr.  Balch  was  born  in  Xew  England,  and 
inherited  the  rare,  intellectual  and  moral  gifts  which 
have  distinguished  his  ancestry.  His  pronounced  con- 
victions and  firmness  in  maintaining  them,  with  his 
bold  and  fearless  hatred  and  denunciation  of  evil,  are 
characteristics  of  the  old  Puritan  stock.  He  was  such 
a  man  as  might  be  looked  for  in  the  case  of  such  an 
ancestry.  He  was  one  of  a  company  of  remarkable 
preachers  who  gave  new  character  to  the  Christian 
thought  of  the  age  and  religious  life  of  the  country. 
His  labors  extended  over  a  period  of  more  than  sixty 
years.  During  his  ministry  our  church  passed  through 
a  period  of  sharp  controversy,  with  which  Dr.  Balch 
was  closely  identified  and  became  an  able  defender  of 
the  faith.  He  was  not  merely  polemic  in  his  methods 
of  work,  but  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  of  righteousness, 


16  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

and  a  valiant  soldier  of  the  cross,  reflecting  in  his  own 
life  and  character  the  beauty  of  holiness.  My 
acquaintance  with  him,  beginning  under  pleasant  cir- 
cumstances some  years  ago,  ripened  into  a  lasting 
friendship.  He  always  exercised  a  kindly  judgment 
and  a  fatherly  spirit  that  irresistibly  drew  me  to  him 
for  counsel  and  sympathy,  and  never  was  I  sent  away 
empty.  His  wide  and  varied  experience  with  men  and 
affairs  of  life,  combined  with  a  wonderful  memory  and 
large  amount  of  common  sense,  made  him  a  wise  coun- 
sellor. Dr.  Balch  was  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  though 
somewhat  diffusive,  never  failed  to  interest  and  hold 
his  audience.  Every  word  and  attitude  of  the  man 
expressed  his  devotion,  sincerity  and  earnestness. 
Honest  in  thought,  sincere  in  purpose,  loyal  to  his 
friends,  openhearted  and  plain  spoken,  he  could  tol- 
erate no  hypocrisy  or  pretense.  To  him  Christianity 
was  more  a  life  than  creed,  a  character  rather  than  pro- 
fession, and  the  preaching  of  righteousness  more  than 
organization.  His  life  attested  the  sincerity  of  these 
convictions,  having  lived  a  consistent  Christian,  and 
passed  to  his  rest  crowned  with  glory  and  honor.  Dr. 
Balch  had  a  commanding  presence,  a  strong  and  active 
mind,  a  lofty  ideal  and  a  tender  heart.  He  maintained 
a  pure  heart  and  a  spotless  example.  His  life  work 
remains  as  a  priceless  legacy  in  our  church,  and  his 
successful  career  as  a  Christian  minister  becomes  an 
inspiration  to  all  who  labor  for  the  advancement  of 
God's  kingdom. 

"  My  more  intimate  association  w^ith  Father  Balch 
was  during  my  pastorate  of  the  church  in  Elgin.  His 
friendship  was  steadfast  and  bis  support  cordial  and 
liberal.  His  spirit  wTas  gentle  and  his  judgments  char- 
itable. I  learned  to  place  implicit  confidence  in  the 
man,  and  always  found  him  unwavering  in  his  faith, 
steadfast  in  his  adherance  to  Christian  principles,  and 
every  way  worthy  of  confidence.  He  was,  indeed,  a 
model  ex-pastor.     My  words  and  methods  were  never 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCII.  IT 

subjects  of  adverse  criticism  before  the  public,  but  what- 
ever criticism  or  advice  he  had  to  offer  was  always  given 
in  private  and  in  a  kind  and  fatherly  spirit.  I  dearly- 
loved  the  man  and  can  not  realize  he  has  left  us  forever, 
and  that  I  shall  never  again  look  upon  his  bodily  form, 
feel  his  genial  presence,  and  listen  to  his  words  of  cheer. 
I  recall  now  his  last  visit  to  the  ministers'  meeting  when 
I  was  present. 

"  The  subject  under  consideration  was  the  relation 
of  the  church  to  the  Sunday-school,  and  Dr.  Balch 
spoke  feelingly  regarding  the  little  children,  and  the 
necessity  of  giving  them  good  advantages  and  early  re- 
ligious training,  admonishing  the  brethren  to  care  for 
the  little  ones.  We  mourn,  but  not  as  those  without 
hope,  for  life  is  continuous,  and  there  is  a  '  restitution 
of  all  things/  and  we  believe  that  this  man,  so  richly 
endowed  with  native  and  acquired  gifts,  so  faithful  in 
his  friendship,  so  illustrious  in  citizenship,  so  true  and 
sincere  in  religion,  and  eminent  in  the  Christian  virtues, 
is  not  dead,  and  that  we  shall  meet  again.  Farewell, 
my  dear  and  venerable  friend,  having  passed  the  stormy 
period  of  life,  rest  thou  in  peace!  Thou  hast  passed  to 
thy  reward  ripe  in  years  and  experience,  respected  by 
all  men.  and  with  the  priceless  gift  of  an  untarnished 
name,  bright  as  the  stars.  Thy  life  hath  enriched  the 
world,  which  will  hold  thee  in  loving  remembrance/' 

Truly  we  may  say  a  great  and  good  man,  full  of 
noblest  deeds,  occupying  largest  places,  and  doing  most 
faithful  service  for  his  denomination,  and  for  every 
good  cause,  with  a  hold  on  the  hearts  of  vast  multi- 
tudes of  people,  as  but  few  have  ever  held,  has  passed 
from  earth  to  a  better  home  than  any  of  the  homes  of 
earth  can  afford.  He  has  been  called  to  a  higher  and 
wider  sphere  of  honor  and  effort,  being  lifted  up  through 
this  life  to  that  which  is  ampler  and  better.  He  has 
been  gathered  to  his  fathers,  having  the  testimony  of 


18  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

a  good  conscience,  in  favor  with  God.  and  in  perfect 
charity  with  the  whole  world.  The  pulpit  and  press 
throughout  the  country  have  been  quick  in  vying  with 
each  other  to  bespeak  his  praises,  and  to  lament  his  de- 
parture with  tentlerest  testimonials  of  their  sorrow  at 
the  loss  of  one  who  has  been  so  widely  known,  and  so 
honored  and  loved  in  the  hearts  of  so  many.  We  may 
well  say,  as  in  the  beautiful  lines  of  Miss  E.  J.  Stickney : 

Thy  work  on  earth  is  done, 
The  da}'  has  dawned  for  thee, 
A  Christmas  day  unending, 
For  God  has  called  thee  home. 

For  thee  no  more  earth's  pain  and  care, 
But  gain  surpassing  human  thought. 
******* 

Thy  efforts  grand  to  raise  and  lead 
Mankind  to  better  deeds, 
And  broader  thought  of  God's  great  love 
And  mercy,  and  man's  brotherhood, 
Remains  a  priceless  gilt. 
******* 

Thy  path  of  duty  followed  long, 
And  purity  of  purpose  gave 
A  recompense  of  peace. 

Heaven's  deepest  joys  be  thine, 

My  father's  life  long  friend  and  mine, 

With  reverence  from  childhood  felt, 

As  ooe  of  many  who  will  say, 

"My  life  was  blest  by  him.'' 

This  tribute  to  thy  faithfulness 

I  lay  upon  thy  grave. 

And  now  commences  the  endeavor  to  sketch  as 
faithfully  as  may  be  the  life  and  labors  of  the  hero  of 
this  storv,  which  mav  the  good  God  direct  to  His  own 
wise  ends  and  purposes,  as  the  prayer  of  so  many  will 
be.  And  in  tracing  here  what  he  whose  history  these 
pages  will   disclose  has  to  say  of   the  object, of  this 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  19 

work,  as  I  gather  it  from  manuscript  placed  at  my 
disposal,  and  other  sources  to  which  I  have  applied, 
containing  many  interesting  and  teeming  events,  allow 
me  to  quote    from  what  his   own  hand  has  recorded: 

'To-day  I  am  just  half  way  across  my  eightieth  year, 
and  I  begin  a  work  which  has  often  been  urged  upon 
me  by  many  friends.  I  doit  hesitatingly,  m  part  to 
gratify  them,  but  chiefly  to  convince  young  people 
;hat  an  earnest  and  constant  endeavor  to  do  right  in 
all  things  will  surely  secure  for  them  fair  success, 
prosperity  and  happiness,  however  humble  their  birth, 
strong  their  temptation,  and  great  their  difficulties 
which  may  seem  to  hedge  their  pathway  before  them." 

"The  young  need  encouragement,  example,  faith 
and  hope.  Those  in  mid-age  who  have  patience  to 
read  the  record  of  a  plain,  humble,  active  life  may 
find  something  to  instruct  and  entertain.  The  aged,  I 
am  sure,  will  be  reminded  of  conditions  and  events  in 
the  long  past,  and,  by  contrast  with  the  present,  be 
thankful  for  what  they  have  seen  and  enjoyed." 

Then  as  he  proceeds  he  speaks  of  the  general  char- 
acter and  object  of  biography,  and  says  : 

u  Biography  truly  written  is  to  be  regarded  as 
among  the  most  interesting  and  profitable  reading.  It 
becomes  a  study  to  the  thoughtful  in  the  formation 
of  character.  The  novels  and  romances  so  much  read 
are  little  else  than  personal  biographies,  painted  in 
gaudy  colors,  so  intermingled  as  to  excite  and  please; 
sometimes  real;  too  often  imaginary,  extravagant  and 
impossible.  What  is  history  bnt  a  narrative  of  personal 
and  associated  desires,  purposes,  plans,  actions  and  re- 
sults, or  successes  and  failures,  for  the  good  or  injury 
of  mankind  I  " 

He  speaks  of  autobiography  after  this  manner: 

"An  error  in  biography,  written  by  another,  is. 
that  •  the  author   too  often   writes  himself  instead    of 


20  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

his  subject.  At  best  he  accounts  for  facts,  and  colors 
them  by  his  own  or  others'  impressions  and  feelings. 
He  cannot  know,  except  by  inference,  what  were  the 
serious  thoughts,  real  principles,  controlling  motives 
and  outside  influences  which  led  to  the  conduct  and 
character  he  attempts  to  describe.  He  makes  an  ideal 
hero  to  adorn  his  book,  or  dresses  in  rags  an  honest 
man  to  gratify  a  grudge.  Every  man,  the  deeds  and 
needs  of  whose  life  are  worth  recording,  can  best  write 
his  own  Biography.  To  do  so  may  by  some  be 
thought  egotistic.  There  is  the  danger  that  he  may 
magnify  his  virtues  beyond  their  true  measure,  and  be 
blind  to  his  own  faults.  If  honest  he  will  do  neither. 
Conscious  of  his  race  on  the  earth  being  nearly  run,  his 
work  nearly  finished,  and  his  actual  record  made,  it 
would  be  a  shameful  sin,  and  a  deserved  disgrace,  to 
write  his  own  hypocrisy,  and  leave  it  to  witness  against 
his  memory.  Better  that  he  repent,  and  leave  silence 
behind  him.' " 

Then  as  he  continues,  his  words  are  : 

"  I  have  done  no  great  or  marvelous  deeds  whereof 
to  boast.  Born  and  bred  in  comparative  obscurity,  I 
have  never  coveted  wealth,  or  obtained  it.  Nor  have  I 
preferred  the  honor  that  comes  from  men  to  that  which 
comes  from  God.  My  chief  battles  have  been  fought 
witli  myself.  Though  earnest  and  active  in  what  was 
clear  to  me  as  beino-  right  and  dutv.  in  the  minutest  as 

©       © 

in  the  greatest,  I  have  aspired  to  live  an  honest,  a  use- 
ful and  honorable  life, mingling  my  own  o-ood  with  the 

©  ©  i  © 

good  of  my  fellow  men,  my  prosperity  and  happiness 
with  theirs,  as  a  common  brother  in  a  common  human- 
ity. With  these  principles  I  have  pursued  the  even 
tenor  of  my  way  as  far  as  possible,  as  I  have  advanced 
from  childhood  to  old  age.  and  I  have  found  favor  and 
abundant  reward  all  the  way,  far  above  my  expecta- 
tions. Having  been  so  prospered  and  blest  in  my  hum- 
ble career,  I  now  sit  down  to  detail,  briefly  as  I  can, 
some  of  the  fruits  consequent  upon  such  a   course  of 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  21 

action,  honestly  begun  and  steadily  pursued  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  are  and  those  who  are  to  be.  I 
do  it  that  they  may  be  persuaded  to  shun  the  way  of 
evil  which  inevitably  leads  to  trials,  disappointments 
and  misery,  and  often  to  untimely  death ;  and  to 
choose  and  follow  the  open  path  of  sincerity,  purity, 
honesty,  fidelity,  humility  and  duty,  which  certainly 
leads  to  honor,' peace,  plenty,  happiness  and  long  life, 
Avith  flowers  freely  scattered  all  the  way  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  and  bright  hopes  of  a  brighter 
future  always  before  them." 

It  seems  that  he  could  not  have  always  been  careful 
to  keep  a  diary  or  journal  of  his  life,  for  in  speaking 
of  the  difficulty  of  knowing  what  to  write,  and  what 
to  leave  unwritten,  we  have  the  following  from  his 
pen  : 

"  It  is  from  fragmentary  memoranda,  jotted  down 
from  time  to  time  from  the  age  of  sixteen  onward,  and 
from  the  help  of  a  strong  and  clear  memory,  that  I 
gather  material  for  what  I  write.  I  shall  be  compelled 
to  condense  much,  and  to  erase  more,  lest  the  book  be 
so  large  that  but  few  will  have  the  courage  to  read  it." 

He  states  again  the  purpose  for  which  he  writes: 

"My  first  and  leading  thought  will  be  to  help  edu- 
cate the  young,  and  prepare  them  for  the  life  before 
them,  but  also  to  give  symmetry  and  strength  of  pur- 
pose to  manhood.  To  do  this  for  the  higher  attain- 
ments of  a  rational,  reasonable  and  true  life,  however 
humble  its  origin,  or  great  the  obstacles  which  hinder 
it,  is  the  object  of  this  work.  To  this  object  the  study 
and  main  purpose  of  my  life  has  been  devoted." 

His  final  remarks  are,  that: 

'•'Having  lived  in  one  of  the  most  interesting  peri- 
ods of  the  world's  historv,  from  1806  to  1886  (it  was 


22  B1SV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

in  that  year  he  was  writing  what  he  here  pens),  I  must 
have  been  a  dull  observer  indeed  not  to  have  noted 
some  of  the  wonderful  events  which  have  transpired 
between  these  years  worth  describing  for  the  benefit 
of  those  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  go  forward  in  the 
highway  of  progress  toward  the  perfect,  in  all  that 
helps  to  broaden  the  views,  deepen  the  convictions,  and 
warm  the  soul  into  a  clearer  apprehension  of  the  wise 
and  benevolent  purpose  of  Him  who  created  man  '  to 
glorify  and  enjoy  Him  forever.'" 

Mr.  Balch,  I  am  sure,  ought  to  be  able  to  speak  out 
of  a  ripe  experience,  and  we  can  not  doubt  that  every- 
thing of  the  above  is  judiciously  conceived. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ANCESTRY. 

I  continue  to  quote  largely,  and  to  give  this  account 
as  much  as  possible  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Balch  him- 
self;  and  it  will  be  perceived  that  he  never  fortified  his 
claim  to  the  popular  regard  by  allusions  to  any  illus- 
trious ancestry,  but  on  the  contrary  avoided  courting 
the  favor  of  the  worldly  great.  Much  of  what  he  says 
is  calculated  to  remind  one  of  what  Nathaniel  P.  Pogers 
once  told  of  himself:  "That  he  was  well  enough  de- 
scended, but  had  nothing  of  uppish  blood  in  him ;  that 
he  believed  one  of  his  progenitors  was  hung,  and  back 
farther  one  was  burned  at  the  stake,  so  that  he  could 
not  help  seeing  equal  humanity  in  any  living  creatures, 
however  neglected  or  despised." 

Mr.  Balch  opens  on  this  subject  by  saying: 

"  Biographies  are  usually  introduced  with  a  grand 
overture,  detailing  the  good  and  wise  and  great  trace- 
able in  the  lives  of  a  long  line  of  ancestors.  The  at- 
tempt is  made  to  find  some  taint  of  genius  or  excellence 
which  must  have  descended  by  force  of  natural  hered- 
ity through  many  generations,  and  centered  finally 
in  the  hero  of  the  narrative.  Success  in  this  direction 
is  thought  to  be  the  augury  of  continued  greatness,  and 
bespeaks  a  favorable  reception  boy  careless  readers. 
under  the  promise  of  an  enticing  book.  It  fell  to  my 
lot  to  come  into  the  world  with  no  such  prestige  to 
help  me  through  it." 

"The  knowledge  and  example  of  great  and  good 
23 


24  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

deeds,  and  eminent  virtues  in  parents,  may  inspire  a 
noble  ambition  and  beget  a  feeling  of  responsibility  in 
children,  sufficient  to  lead  them  to  untiring  effort  to 
live  worthy  of  the  name  they  bear.  And  so  the  influ- 
ence of  good  society  may  awaken  in  children,  born  in 
low  and  degraded  conditions,  a  desire  and  a  resolution 
to  rise  out  of  it,  and  become  worthy  to  associate  with 
the  good  in  the  truer  walks  of  life.  But  it  will  never 
do,  in  this  age  and  country  of  democratic  feeling  and 
public  schools,  to  plead  the  purity  and  nobleness  of  an- 
cestral blood  to  exalt  our  virtues  or  cover  our  vices. 
Every  person  is  self-dependent  to  form  for  himself  a 
character  to  be  respected  ;  to  weave  for  his  own  brow  a 
chaplet  of  honorable  distinction  or  to  sink  into  ob- 
scurit}7  or  deserved  disgrace. 

"  I  never  tried  to  learn  much  about  my  pedigree.  I 
knew  ray  paternal  grandfather,  for  I  was  often  at  his 
house  when  a  boy.  He  used  to  tell  me  what  he  did  and 
suffered  during  the  war  of  the  revolution;  how  on  hear- 
ing' of  the  fights  at  Lexington  and  Concord  he  left  his 
home  with  several  of  his  neighbors;  shouldered  his 
musket  and  started  for  Bunker  Hill,  reached  Charles- 
town  Neck  just  in  time  to  cover  the  retreat,  while  balls 
from  the  British  ships  went  whistling  over  their  heads  ; 
how  he  was  at  the  battle  of  Stillwater,  and  Saratoga, 
and  was  hurt  by  a  limb  falling  on  his  head,  cut  from  a 
tree  by  one  of  Rurgoyne's  cannon  balls;  how  he  win- 
tered at  Peekskill  on  the  Hudson,  and  at  Valley  Forge, 
deprived  of  every  comfort,  at  times  almost  starving, 
and  continued  to  serve  seven  years,  till  that  war  was  end- 
ed, and  then  returned  home  half  clad,  with  some  almost 
worthless  bits  of  paper,  called  Continental  money,  in 
his  pocket.  Sometimes  he  would  take  down  his  old 
musket,  which  lay  in  two  wooden  hooks  nailed  to  a 
beam  overhead,  and  show  us  boys  the  drill  of  Baron 
Steuben.  It  was  enough  for  me  to  start  from  such  a 
grandsire,  without  going  farther  back  to  trace  my 
genealogy." 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  25 

"I  did  once,  however,  ask  him  about  his  ancestors 
when  grown  to  manhood,  and  he  over  ninety.  It  was 
one  of  his  'bright  days,'  as  my  aunt  called  them.  He 
was  in  a  very  happy  mood,  talkative,  and  even  merry. 
He  had  made  many  inquiries  about  my  condition,  mv 
family,  how  it  fared  with  us,  and  what  our  prospects 
were.  I  finally  ventured  to  tell  him  that  I  had  some- 
times been  curious  to  know  something  about  the  history 
of  our  family — where  we  had  come  from,  and  what  we 
had  done  that  was  worth  our  while  to  know. 

"The  old  gentleman  roused  up,  and  said  rather 
seriously,  'What  is  that  to  us?  We  have  only  our  own 
conduct  to  answer  for,  and  honors  won  by  others  might 
not  set  well  on  our  shoulders.'  k  That  is  very  true.'  I 
replied,  '  in  a  certain  sense.  I  have  no  desire  to  share 
honors  or  emoluments  which  I  do  not  deserve.  Still 
it  is  some  satisfaction  to  know  something  of  one's  fore- 
fathers.' '  I  have  good  reason  to  desire  no  such  thing, ' 
he  said  in  a  somewhat  subdued  and  grave  tone,  'for  I 
have  alwa}Ts  thought  it  a  disgrace  to  accept  property  or 
honors  not  gained  by  ourselves  but  by  others : '  to 
which  I  replied  that  property  without  industry  and 
praise  without  merit  do  more  harm  than  good.  He  told 
me  I  was  right,  and  he  would  gratify  me  as  far  as  he 
knew,  and  began,  saying, 'I  was  born  in  the  Old  Bay  State, 
town  of  Newbury,  and  I  lived  when  a  child  with  my 
mother  in  Boston.  My  father  I  never  saw.  I  was  told 
that  he  was  a  sea  captain,  and  was  lost  with  all  his 
crew  when  on  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies.' 

"After  some  explanations  of  my  aunt,  what  she 
had  learned,  he  added,  'yes,  my  mother  left  me  when 
I  was  young.  She  was  married  to  a  British  officer, 
and  went  to  live  in  Halifax,  the  home  of  Tories  in  those 
days.  I  have  been  told  she  died  there,  and  left  me  sev- 
eral hundred  dollars,  which  I  never  received,  and  it  is 
just  as  well.  So  you  see  that  you  have  nothing  to  boast 
of  or  expect  on  that  score." 


26  REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

"  I  may  say  that  there  are  now  two  diligent  per- 
sons, working  on  different  lines  to  search  out  the  origin 
of  the  name.  Both  have  followed  one  branch  back  as 
far  as  Scituate  in  the  Plymouth  colony,  and  mixed  it 
with  the  early  Pilgrims.  One  has  traced  it  as  far  as  the 
southwest  of  England,  where  the  ancient  Britons  re- 
tained their  last  hold  on  English  soil,  and  found  it 
there.  I  have  once  or  twice  found  the  name  in  Eng- 
land, I  think  in  Bath  or  Bristol.  I  saw  the  name  with 
one  letter  changed  in  Wales.  I  have  seen  it  also  in 
Germany  with  the  plural  "en"  added,  Balchen.  I  have 
read  of  it  in  'Prideaux'  connections,  as  the  name  of 
an  important  city  in  Bactria.  But  all  these  are  trifles, 
as  the  predicate  of  a  renown  that  is  ever  to  be  sought 
after.  Self-reliance  on  the  eternal  Good  and  Wise  and 
Just  and  Holy,  and  obedience  to  His  perfect  and  univer- 
sal law,  is  the  basis  of  all  true  honor,  prosperity  and 
happiness. ' 

He  would  not  acknowledge  that  blood  counted  for 
anything,  or  that  ancestry  was  any  help  to  a  man,  only 
so  far  as  it  inspired  him  with  noble  purposes. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

PARENTAGE. 

Bro.  Balch  tells  us  that  "  a  man  has  a  riffht  to 
speak  of  his  parentage  and  childhood,  and  tell  the 
truth,  that  others  may  know  how  he  has  come  forth  into 
life,  what  his  outfit  has  been,  and  what  the  course  has 
been  that  he  has  pursued.  How  else  can  an  account  of 
his  experiences  and  character  be  complete  and  of  use 
to  others  ? 

"  My  father,  Joel  Balch,  was  the  oldest  son  of  Hart 
Balch.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Priscilla  Holt. 
Among  the  earliest  things  I  remember  of  my  childhood 
was  the  visit  of  her  mother,  my  great  grandmother,  at 
my  father's,  when  I  was  less  than  four  years  old.  She 
had  just  been  married  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  and 
rode  from  Crown  Point,  X.  Y.,  sixty-four  miles  on 
horseback  for  a  wedding  tour.  My  mother  s  maiden  name 
was  Betsey  Stevens.  Her  mother's  name  was  Greene,  a 
relative  of  General  Greene  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Her 
father's  name  was  William  Stevens,  from  which  I  took 
rny  name.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and 
one  of  the  first  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  Andover.  My 
mother  taught  the  first  school  in  Andover. 

"  So  far  as  I  have  learned,  my  parents  and  grand- 
parents were  esteemed  as  good  neighbours,  and  honest 
and  respectable  citizens.  There  were  no  social  classifi- 
cations in  those  days  in  that  region ;  but  very  little 
now,  so  far  as  personal  merit  may  go.  None  were 
rich ;  few  were  poor.  One  did  not  esteem  himself 
above  another.     He  was  best  who  served  most,  and  in- 

27 


28  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

terfered  least  in  other  people's  matters,  by  industry  and 
economy,  obtaining  an  honest  and  comfortable  living. 
To  be  an  office-seeker  was  scarcely  a  grade  lower  than 
a  sheep-steal er.  My  father  was  entrusted  with  a  full 
share  of  public  business.  He  served  many  years  as  one 
of  the  Selectmen,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Representative 
to  the  Legislature,  and  in  other  public  positions.  He 
was  often  consulted  in  the  settlement  of  public  and  pri- 
vate affairs.  He  was  a  strict  domestic  disciplinarian, 
kind  and  generous,  but  always  setting  before  his  chil- 
dren the  duty  of  obedience  to  parents,  respect  for  su- 
periors, careful  self-government,  self-respect,  and  right 
behaviour  toward  companions.  He  inculcated  the  right 
of  personal  liberty,  and  a  feeling  of  mutual  responsi- 
bility." 

At  a  memorial  service  held  in  Dubuque,  Iowa,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Bro.  Balch,  Judge  Adams, 
who  at  an  early  da}T  had  his  home  in  that  section  of  the 
country  where  young  Balch  had  been  raised,  says  : 

"  Dr.  Batch's  father  was  one  of  the  representative 
men  of  Vermont.  He  was  not  a  great  man  as  the 
world  counts  greatness.  He  was  a  man  of  simple  ways, 
strong  common-sense,  and  rugged,  sterling  character. 
In  property,  like  his  neighbors,  he  was  not  rich.  The 
town  indeed  never  had  a  rich  man,  and  probably  never 
will  have.  And  I  think  it  is  equally  true  that  it  never 
produced  a  beggar.  Most  of  its  inhabitants  have 
trodden  closely  on  the  boundary  line  between  comfort 
and  want,  generally  enjoying  the  former.  Their  con- 
dition, at  least,  was  not  very  attractive  to  the  casual 
observer,  but  amid  their  humble  surroundings,  they 
never  failed  to  cherish  a  blind  discontent ;  not  that 
which  would  pull  down,  but  that  which  would  build  up. 
They  had  in  their  minds  a  grand  ideal,  for  which  nothing 
in  their  outward  circumstances  seemed  to  afford  very 
much  warrant. " 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    EALCH.  29 

Bro.  Balch  recalls  matters  of  his  mother's  death, 


occurring  when  he  was  very  young.      The  following 
are  his  words : 

<;  My  mother  died  before  I  was  four  years  old.  and  I 
remember  two  things  distinctly  of  her.  She  was  lying 
on  her  bed,  sick  and  pale  with  consumption.  My  older 
brother  and  I  had  done  some  mischief,  and  we  were 
taken  to  her  for  correction.  In  loving  words,  she  told 
us  that  it  was  very  wrong  to  do  such  things,  and  she 
hoped  we  would  be  good  boys  and  do  nothing  that 
was  improper,  for  it  made  her  unhappy,  and  would 
make  us  so.  When  she  was  about  to  die  they  took  me 
to  her  bedside,  and  said  'This  is  William.'  She  turned 
her  eyes  upon  me  with  a  look  that  I  have  never  forgot- 
ten ;  then  laying  her  hand  upon  my  head  she  looked 
up  to  Heaven,  and  moved  her  lips  as  if  in  prayer  to 
God  that  He  might  be  my  protector  and  guide. 

"It  was  the  winter  before  this  that  my  parent  took 
me  to  the  funeral  of  an  uncle,  the  earliest  thing  that  I 
have  treasured  in  my  memory.  It  was  the  house  of 
my  grandfather,  and  the  yard  was  full  of  teams,  and 
the  house  full  of  people.  My  father  lifted  me  up  to 
the  face  in  the  coffin,  and  many  were  crying.  Xot 
long  after  my  mother's  death  my  sister  Susan,  younger 
than  myself,  died,  and  two  years  later  my  oldest  sis- 
ter, Priseilla,  aged  sixteen.  This  was  to  me  a  sad 
event,  for  she  had  loved  and  cared  for  me  during  my 
father's  widowhood  with  every  proof  of  a  sister's  love. 
These  events  cast  a  shadow  over  my  young  life  which 
left  a  tinge  of  sadness  that  never  quite  faded  from  my 
memory.'' 

Having  written  thus  far,  the  thought  crowded  on 
Bro.  Baku's  mind  something  after  this  fashion,  that  it 
was  a  great  piece  of  vanity,  and  opinionated  confi- 
dence, that  his  life  had  been  worthy  of  any  consider- 
able place  in  the  annals  of  time. 


30  KEY.  WILLIAM    STEYEXS    BALCH. 

If  this  work  he  was  engaged  in  was  ever  to  be  done 
at  all,  some  one  else  who  should  see  him  with  other  eyes 
than  his,  must  paint  him  as  he  was,  and  the  pen  was 
thrown  aside  only  to  the  taken  up  after  six  months  had 
passed,  when  his  eightieth  birthday  had  transpired,  in 
which  many  friends  of  his  thought  well  to  notice  so 
memorable  an  event  and  gave  him  his  reception  in 
Chicago. 

It  was  now  that  his  more  partial  sympathizers  be- 
gan once  more  to  importune  him  to  leave  to  the  world 
the  memoranda,  at  least  from  which  could  be  compiled 
important  lessons  of  his  history,  for  his  life  had  been 
too  valuable  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  He  gives  ex- 
pression to  his  thought,  saying. 

u  So  far  I  had  written,  when  the  capital  'I'  looked 
so  prominent,  suggesting  self  and  egotism,  that  I  hesi- 
tated, faltered  and  gave  it  up.  Since  then  I  have  crossed 
the  limit  of  active  manhood  into  the  realm  of  old  age, 
and  no  longer  have  aught  to  hope  or  fear  from  the 
praise  or  censure  of  the  world.  The  manifestation  un- 
dreamed of  by  me,  bestowed  on  my  eightieth  birthday 
by  numerous  friends  and  many  strangers,  has  so  stimu- 
lated, strengthened  and  cheered  me,  that  I  have  taken 
courage  and  again  given  heed  to  the  renewed  advice  of 
those  who  have  known  me  best,  and  start  to  write  in 
brief  the  story  of  my  life  and  labors." 

He  now  sets  out  with  seemingly  a  more  steady  pur- 
pose to  do  what  he  had  been  so  reluctant  to  attempt. 
His  first  work  is  to  give  an  account  of  his  birth  and 
childhood. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD. 

But  very  little  need  be  said  under  this  head,  and 
that  little  we  will  let  Mr.  Balch  furnish  himself. 

"  I  was  born,"  he  says,  "  in  the  obscure  town  of  An- 
dover.  Yt.,  April  13,  1806,  in  a  house  of  two  rooms, 
partly  of  logs,  and  situated  on  a  road  that  was  after- 
ward given  up.  and  the  house  allowed  to  go  to  ruins. 
It  was  when  I  was  only  a  few  months  old  that  my 
father  moved  from  this  house  to  where  he  had  charge 
of  a  grist  and  saw-mill,  afterwards  returning  to  An- 
dover,  where  he  lived  and  died.  My  childhood  was 
spent  like  the  childhood  of  most  poor  farmer  boys,  in  a 
comparatively  new  and  sparsely  settled  town  in  those 
days  of  rural  simplicity,  not  as  they  were  and  are  in 
villages  and  cities  at  the  present  time,  rather  more 
strictly  perhaps  than  many  of  my  playmates. 

"  The  first  lesson  I  learned  was  the  First  Command- 
ment with  promise,  a  lesson  I  never  forgot.  It  was 
well  for  me  I  did  not ;  and  I  think  it  would  be  well  for 
every  child  and  parent,  and  for  the  world  at  large,  if  it 
were  strictly  enforced  in  kindness  in  all  cases,  never 
in  anger,  always  in  love. 

"In  the  family  we  were  never  allowed  to  speak, 
but  always  taught  to  listen  while  others  were  talking. 
We  never  sat  at  table  until  we  were  able  to  work,  but 
sat  upon  a  low  bench  in  the  chimney  corner,  with  our 
pewter  basins  of  bread,  or  hasty  pudding  and  milk. 
Our  food  was  always  plain,  but  sufficient,  and  served 
to  nourish  and  build  up  strong  constitutions.  The  fine 
art  of  spoiling  food  by  cooking  to  tickle  the  palate 

31 


32  REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

and  create  a  false  appetite  was  not  much  known  in 
that  region  at  that  time.  Our  clothing  was  very  plain, 
all  home-spun.  The  tailoress  came  once  a  year  to  cut, 
baste  and  lit  coats  for  the  elders,  and  the  cobbler  to 
make  and  mend  the  shoes  and  boots ;  but  home  talent 
cut  and  made  dresses  for  the  girls,  and  frocks  and 
trousers  for  the  boys,  patching  them  when  necessary. 
Truckle-beds  were  fashionable  in  those  days,  and  the 
boys  went  bare-foot  in  the  summer. 

'  "  While  I  was  yet  a  child,  wearing  a  frock,  I  went 
with  my  three  sisters  and  older  brother  to  school,  a 
mile  from  home,  by  the  abandoned  road  leading  by  the 
old  house  where  I  was  born.  I  looked  upon  that 
rained  shanty  with  a  reverence  scarcely  exceeded  while 
wandering  among  the  ruins  of  Baalbec,  Karnock  and 
the  temples,  tombs  and  ruined  cities  of  the  East.  AVe 
had  few  playthings  with  which  to  amuse  ourselves. 
Broken  bits  of  crockery  we  converted  into  dishes,  and 
on  two  great  bowlder  stones  not  far  apart,  away  up  in 
the  pasture,  we  used  to  play  house-keeping,  go  visiting, 
keep  school  and  hold  meetings,  and  thus  imitate  the 
ways  of  our  elders.  It  was  a  great  joy  afterwards  to 
sit  upon  those  rocks  and  gaze  upon  the  bold  romantic 
scenery  spread  all  around  save  on  the  west,  prevented 
there  by  the  ridge  of  Mt.  Terrible.  Markhams  and 
Globe  Mountains.  Wide  over  the  hill  country  the  view 
extended  to  the  grand  Monadnock  in  Xew  Hampshire, 
"Wachuset  in  Massachusetts,  and  alono-  the  o-ranite 
ridges  which  were  seen  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
I  was  a  great  admirer  of  Nature,  and  loved  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  my  native  State.  And  it  was  then  that 
I  drank  in  my  uncontrollable  fondness  of  natural 
scenery  and  the  desire  to  travel  over  the  earth's 
surface."  A  fondness  that  seemed  to  remain  with 
him  as  Ions;  as  he  lived. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

"  At  the  age  of  seYen.  if  not  earlier,  we  were  all 
taught  that  we  had  something  to  do  in  the  way  of 
work.  This  we  understood  was  to  be  our  lot  when  out 
of  school :  the  girls  to  do  housework,  knitting,  sewing, 
spinning,  weaving,  etc.;  the  boys  to  do  chores,  running 
of  errands,  picking  up  chips  and  stones,  bringing  in 
wood,  riding  on  horseback  to  plow  out  the  corn.  and. 
indeed,  doing  many  kinds  of  light  work  which  we  were 
capable  of." 

At  ten  years  old  our  boy  began  to  use  the  axe  and 
spade,  and  the  scythe  some,  and  to  keep  busy  in  what- 
ever was  to  be  done.  At  fourteen  he  strove  to  do  a 
man's  work,  and  succeeded  fairly.  It  is  easy  to  per- 
ceive that  he  was  occupied  with  work  far  beyond  the 
great  majority  of  boys  of  our  own  times.  He  tells  us 
that  he  was  never  called  lazy  but  once  :  that,  when 
about  ten  years  old.  his  father  wanted  something  done. 
and  he  did  not  fly  around  Cjuite  as  quick  as  he  desired, 
and  he  said  : 

;*  I  thought  you  were  going  to  be  a  good  smart  boy 
to  work,  but  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  a  lazy  lout."  "  I 
have  never,"  he  says,  "  been  accused  of  laziness  since. 
I  have  heeded  his  lessons  to  do  a  thing-  when  it  ought 
to  be  done,  or  not  at  all.  and  to  do  it  well :  not  delay 
lest  I  should  hinder  others:  never  to  ask  another  to  do 
for  me  what  I  could  do  for  myself ;  and  always  to  be 

33 


3 J.  THE    LIFE    AND    LAB0ES    OF 

on  time ;  to  put  everything  in  its  place,  and  never  to 
go  where  I  was  not  wanted.  I  learned  these  lessons 
early  and  never  forgot  them.  They  have  been  con- 
stantly impressed  upon  my  mind  in  all  the  matters  of 
my  after-life.  Looking  upon  life,''"  he  says,  "  as  a  seri- 
ous responsibility,  presenting  prospects  of  good  or  evil 
requiring  much  thought,  and  much  self-denial,  as  Avell 
as  constant  care,  and  involving  duties  which  must  not 
be  trifled  with,  it  became  a  leading  object  with  me  to 
find  out  what  I  was  in  the  world  for ;  what  the  pur- 
pose, possibilities  and  end  of  my  being  ;  and  the  source 
and  means  of  a  useful,  honest,  honorable  and  happy 
life/' 

He  speaks  of  his  opportunity  of  learning  from  books 
as  being  very  limited.  "  Never  but  a  single  book,"  he 
tells  us,  "  Hale's  History  of  the  United  States,  was  ever 
bouffht  for  him  to  studv,  as  the  vounger  of  the  family 
always  used  the  books  of  the  older."  The  school 
which  he  attended  was  always  taught  by  a  woman  in 
the  summer,  and  was  twelve  weeks  in  duration.  That 
in  the  winter  by  a  man  was  eight  weeks.  After  he 
was  eight  years  old  he  had  no  privileges  of  schooling, 
except  three  months  in  winter  and  on  rainy  days  in 
summer.  By  the  laws  of  Vermont  only  a  few  of  the 
most  common  branches  were  taught,  and  these  he  had 
mastered  when  he  was  fourteen.  As  he  had  no  means 
of  advancing  his  studies  beyond  this  number,  he  con- 
tinued to  review  them  for  two  winters,  and  so  became 
thoroughly  familiar  with  them.  There  were  but  very 
few  books  to  read  in  those  times,  among  which  he 
names  "  the  Bible,  the  New  England  Primer.  Watts' 
Psalms    and     Hymns   and   The   Columbian   Orator." 


REV.  WILLIAM    BTEVENS    EALCII.  35 

There  was  a  small  Town  Library,  out  of  which  he  pro- 
cured The  Scottish  Chiefs  and  Chalmers  on  Astrono- 
my. The  latter  he  read  at  fourteen  with  intense  inter- 
est while  making  maple  sugar  in  the  woods.  This 
opened  to  his  young  mind  a  vast  region  for  thought  of 
which  he  had  never  dreamed.     He  says  : 

,;  It  lifted  me  out  of  the  grooves  of  common  think- 
ing, and  set  me  on  the  edge  of  a  new  world  for  explor- 
ation, and  I  felt  that  I  must  not  neglect  my  work,  and 
so  toiled  the  harder  for  time  to  read  and  meditate. 
On  that  high  eminence,  in  the  midst  of  the  native  for- 
est, while  alone,  with  the  broad  heavens  over  me,  and 
silence  all  around,  was  just  the  place  for  a  mind  like 
mine  to  read  such  discourses,  and  drink  in  the  spirit  that 
pervaded  them.  It  was  of  immense  service  to  me,  in 
opening  a  broad  field  for  mental  and  moral  cultivation, 
and  especially  in  enlightening  me  in  regard  to  Chris- 
tianity." 

The  other  work  he  tells  us  he  read  evenings  while 
his  father  Avas  from  home,  which  o-ave  him  a  better 
chance  to  the  light.  This  he  read  as  a  fiction,  and  won- 
dered how  much  of  it  was  true.  But  his  mothers  Bi- 
ble furnished  his  chief  reading,  which  was  only  Sun- 
davs.  rainv  da  vs.  short  noonings  and  evenino-s,  and  as 
he  had  to  work  hard  he  was  often  too  tired  to  read,  put 
in  his  time  to  the  best  advantage. 

"I  never  liked  to  read,"  he  says,  "  about  bloody 
wars,  and  some  of  the  wicked  transactios  recorded  in 
the  Old  Testament.  In  fact  I  must  say  I  have  never 
in  my  life  enjoyed  hearing,  or  reading  about  the  quar- 
relings.  fightings,  and  bickerings  which  have  made 
miserable,  and  disgraced  men  and  nations  in  past  ages. 
From  my  earliest  thinking  it  has  seemed  strange  that 
men  should  make  a  business  of  studying  how  to  kill 


36  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

their  fellow  men:  how  to  make  widows  and  orphans, 
and  fill  the  world  with  misery  and  mourning.  As  rea- 
sonable beings  they  should  find  better  employment 
than  studying  the  arts,  the  refinements,  and  heroisms 
and  horrors  of  war.  In  this  they  are  more  ferocious 
than  any  of  the  lower  animals.  They  are  not  brutish, 
they  are  more  than  brutish,  for  brutes  never  study 
the*"  arts  and  contrivances  to  kill.  In  seeing  cats, 
dogs  and  children  fighting,  I  always  want  the  weak- 
est to  conquer.  I  never  had  any  courage  to  fight. 
I  never  thought  it  brotherly  or  Christianly  to  do  so, 
for  men  or  for  natious.  I  can  not  say  that  I  ever 
admired  Amazons." 

"In  my  earlier  classical  studies  (what  little  I  had) 
and  in  later  years,  even  to  this  day  my  soul  had  revolt- 
ed at  the  vivid  descriptions  of  the  ancient  historians 
and  poets,  who  tell  us  of  the  jealousies  and  dark  deeds 
of  the  gods  and  heroes  they  paint  so  glowingly;  quar- 
rels in  heaven,  and  sin  and  shame  upon  the  earth,  and 
vengeance  and  tortures,  and  disorders  generally.  It 
seemed  to  me  a  great  waste  of  time  and  talent,  to  study 
dead  languages  to  learn  what  evil  thoughts  and  vain 
desires  are  leading  men  and  women  to  pursue  lives  of 
sin  and  shame,  which  so  sadly  disgrace  human  nature, 
and  make  a  polluted  wreck  of  what  the  good  and  wise 
Creator  must  have  intended  for  His  rational  offspring. 
Equally  unpleasant  and  odious  seemed  the  wranglings 
and  divisions  which  worldly  ambitions,  selfishness  and 
pride  brought  into  the  Christian  church  in  the  early 
centuries,  which  continued  to  increase  down  through 
the  dark  ages,  and  still  linger  in  diverse  forms,  despite 
the  light  and  freedom  of  the  present  day.  The  ante 
and  post  Nicene  fathers  never  had  much  attraction  for 
me.  The  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God.  which 
told  of  one  God  the'  Father,  one  Lord  the  Savior,  one 
Humanity,  a  Brotherhood,  and  one  final,  holy,  happy 
destiny,  all  of  which  was  contained  in  my  mother's 
Bible/and  is  fully  sustained  by  my  purest  desires,  my 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  37 

best  reason  and  highest  hopes,  is  much  more  to  my 
mind;  and  I  saw  little  good  in  trying  to  follow  the 
savage  trails  through  the  vast  wilderness  of  the  dismal 
past.     I  was  early  impressed  with  theconviction  that  it 

was  the  duty,  and  should  be  the  business,  of  every  man 
and  woman  to  live  inlove,  peace  and  good-will  toward 
all  men.  and  do  all  the  good  possible." 

"I  may  say  that  so  vivid  and  strong  were  my  im- 
pressions of  the  grand  scenery,  historic  events,  pure 
and  lofty  sentiments,  and  poetic  descriptions  found  in 
the  Bible,  lifting  the  thoughts  of  people  above  the  gross- 
er matters  of  common  Life,  that  I  was  early  inspired 
with  a  living  desire  which  grew  into  a  purpose,  to  visit 
those  lands,  and  see  where  patriarchs  and  prophets, 
Jesus  and  His  disciples  lived  and  labored  to  bless  and 
save  the  world  from  sin,  sorrow  and  death,  a  thing 
which  seemed  almost  impossible  I  ever  should  do  in 
my  humble  condition,  but  still  dreamed  of  by  night 
and  by  day,  and  has  since  been  accomplished  to  my 
great  satisfaction  and  profit. 

•*  When  quite  a  small  boy  my  father  bid  off,  as  the 
fashion j sometimes  has  been,  one  of  the  town  paupers, 
an  old  lady  called  Aunt  Polly,  to  take  care  of  at 
ninety-two  cents  a  week.  She  was  a  quiet  body,  but 
very  pious  after  her  kind,  and  wonderfully  notional, 
even  to  being  whimsical.  She  had  the  only  plastered 
room  in  the  house,  with  fire  and  furniture  all  to  her- 
self. I  used  to  bring  in  her  wood  and  do  little  chores,  for 
which  she  allowed  me  to  read  in  her  large  New  Testa- 
ment, much  larger  than  our  Bible.  Sometimes  I  read 
to  her  aloud.  One  day  she  asked  me  if  I  understood 
what  I  was  reading.  I  thought  1  did.  and  so  answered 
her.  But  she  then  and  afterward  talked  to  me  about 
different  matters,  as  to  how  we  were  all  po  >r,  depraved 
creatures. *odious  in  the  sight  of  God  until  we  were 
converted,  and  would  be  sent  to  hell  when  we  died  to 
suffer  forever  in  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  unless  we 
repented  and  believed  in  Jesus.     It  frightened  me  and  I 


38  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

asked  my  father  if  it  was  so.     He  said  indifferently,  'I 
hope  not.' 

"  I  asked  her  one  time  what  it  meant  to  be  con- 
verted. She  said  1  was  too  young  to  understand  it.  I 
asked  her  how  I  could  get  converted.  She  didn't 
know;  I  must  wait  and  learn.  I  asked  her  if  I  should 
die  before  being  converted  what  would  become  of  me. 
She  feared  I  would  go  to  hell.  I  afterward  inquired 
if  my  mother  and  sisters  were  in  hell.  She  was  afraid 
they  were,  for  she  never  heard  they  were  converted. 

"I  pondered  over  these  things  with  much  anxiety, 
and  was  very  sad  whenever  I  thought  of  them.  I  grew 
afraid  of  the  dark,  for  I  did  not  know  what  evil  crea- 
tures there  were  lurking  about  to  catch  me.  I  was  de- 
tained at  a  neighbor's  one  afternoon  a  little  later  than 
usual,  till  it  was  beginning  to  be  dark,  and  was  to  re- 
turn by  a  way  where  the  dense  shade  of  the  trees 
would  lnake  my  path  difficult  to  follow.  Observing 
fire-flies  darting  here  and  there,  I  could  imagine  the 
eyes  of  imps  watching  me,  to  catch  me  as  I  crossed  an 
old  bridge  close  at  hand.  O,  the  horrors  that  seized 
me  !  I  think  my  hair  must  have  stood  on  end.  I  looked 
neither  to  the  right  nor  left,  but  walked  straight  on. 
When  over  the  bridge,  and  past  a  dark  spruce  woods  I 
ran  with  all  speed  into  my  chamber,  jumped  into  bed, 
covered  my  head  and  felt  safe.  Xo  language  can  de- 
scribe the  misery  I  endured  while  trying  to  be  good, 
but  thinking  I  was  all  bad,  and  could  do  nothing  to 
help  myself  in  any  way.  Aunt  Polly  told  mefcfce  more 
I  tried  to  be  a  good  boy  the  worse  I  was  off.  for  only 
God  could  convert  anybody.  I  could  not  understand 
it,  and  the  more  I  tried  to,  the  worse  it  all  seemed.  I 
did  not  ask  others  about  it,  for  I  did  not  know  any  but 
her  who  were  converted.  My  father  was  a  dilligent 
reader  of  the  Bible,  but  not  a  professor  of  religion. 
Often  I  used  to  go  away  by  myself  and  think  of  these 
things,  till,  almost  frio-htened  out  of  mv  senses.  I  would 
tremble  all  over.     "When  I  thought  of  my  mother  and 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCBT.  3^ 

sisters,  where  they  were,  I  wished  I  had  never  been 
born." 

"When  Iwas  nearly  twelve  years  old  Elder  Mannings 
the  only  preacher  in  town,  preached  a  sermon  from 
the  text,  'By  grace  are  ye  saved,  and  that  not  of 
yourselves.'  In  it  he  argued  the  sentiments  of  Aunt 
Folly  very  emphatically,  making  salvation  depend  upon 
the  election  of  grace  according  to  the  foreknowledge 
and  determinate  council  of  God,  and  not  on  personal 
effort,  for  the  creature  could  do  nothing  of  himself  but 
evil.  A  few  months  after  it  he  gave  another  sermon 
from  the  text,  'AVhere  is  boasting  then?  It  is  ex- 
cluded. By  what  law?  Of  works?  Nay;  but  by  the  law 
of  faith/  During  the  sermon  he  drew  a  line,  and  said 
substantially  that  the  sinners  were  all  on  one  side  and 
the  saints  on  the  other,  and  asked,  'How  shall  the 
former  get  over  to  the  other  side  from  where  they  are? 
They  can  do  nothing  to  set  themselves  over,  for  if  they 
could  they  could  boast.  Here  I  am  over,  and  why 
won't  you  come?  You  cannot  pray  to  get  over.  You 
cannot  pray  to  pray  to  get  over.  It  is  faith  that  takes 
them  up,  and  sets  them  over  upon  the  other  side.' 

"As  we  walked  away  from  the  church  I  asked  a 
boy  older  than  myself  respecting  the  matters  of  the 
sermon.  He  could  tell  no  more  about  it  than  I  could. 
We  concluded  that  it  was  all  over  with  us.  unless  we 
were  among  the  elect,  and  that  we  were  or  were  not  of 
that  number  was  not  for  us  to  know.  And  still  do 
what  we  would,  do  something  or  do  nothing  it  was  all 
the  same  for  God  was  going  to  bring  every  thing  about 
to  please  Himself,  not  us.  The  conclusion  was  not  very 
satisfactory,  but  so  it  was. 

"  In  the  afternoon  it  was  quite  a  common  custom 
with  Mr.  Manning  to  improve  upon  the  morning  serv- 
ice as  it  was  called,  and  he  preached  a  full  hour  and 
a  half  from  the  same  text,  rehearsing  in  part  what  had 
occupied  an  hour  before,  and  closed  the  whole  with  a 
fervent  exhortation,  that,  as  '  he  had  that  day  set 
before  his  hearers  the  way  of  salvation,  the  way  of  life 


4'"1  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

and  of  death,  the  way  to  heaven  and  the  way  to  hell; 
it  was  now  left  with  them  to  choose  which  road  they 
were  going  to  take.  If  God  was  God '  he  told  us, 
1  serve  Him ;  but  if  Baal  then  serve  him.  I  have 
cleared  the  skirts  of  my  garments  from  the  blood  of 
your  souls.  It  is  for  you  to  decide  what  you  will  do — 
be  saved  or  be  damned,    forever  and  ever/ 

"  On  our  way  home  that  afternoon  we  were  sad 
and  anxious.  At  the  forks  of  the  road,  where  we  were 
to  part,  my  young  friend  and  I  sat  under  a  tree  where 
we  had  often  sat  to  discuss  more  important  subjects. 
and  talked  over  the  sermon  we  had  heard.  All  seemed 
more  dark  and  incomprehensible  than  ever.  We  had 
often  been  told  that  we  must  not  use  our  reason  on 
religious  subjects,  and  so  concluded  that  there  was  no 
use  in  trying  to  do  anything.  We  could  only  wait, 
take  things  as  they  came,  and  abide  the  consequences. 
We  proposed  to  give  it  all  up,  and  let  it  go;  for  turn 
whichever  way  we  would  nothing  would  be  changed, 
and,  of  course,  nothing  would  be  gained  by  it. 

"  Upon  arriving  home  I  found  my  father  discussing 
the  sermon  with  a  neighbor.  I  listened  to  them,  and 
discovered  that  their  conclusions  were  much  like  ours. 
My  father  said  with  emphasis,  'Well,  after  all,  it 
amounts  to  just  this :  You  can  and  you  can't ;  You 
shall  and  you  shan't ;  You  will  and  you  won't ;  and 
you  will  be  d — d  it  yon  don't/  I  was  horrified.  My 
father  doubt  Elder  Manning  who  is  a  converted  man, 
and  a  student  of  the  Bible?  He  is  not  a  Christian.  He 
is  nothing  but  a  natural  man.  and  "  the  natural  man 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  for  they  are 
spiritually  discerned' — a  passage  of  Scripture  which  I 
had  often  heard  the  Elder  quote  till  I  had  it  by  heart. 
and  did  not  know  why  it  was  not  as  plain  as  anything 
of  a  mathematical  character." 

The  son  makes  the  statement : 

"My  father  was  called  a  Freethinker,  as  most  in  the 
town  were,  which  the  Elder  said  meant  'Infidelity  of 


BEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  41 

the  worst  kind,  for  the  moral  and  benevolent  man  who 
had  never  been  converted  was  more  dangerous  to  the 
souls  of  men  than  the  must  rebellious  sinner,  since  he 
is  looked  upon  and  respected,  and  thus  his  influence  is 
detrimental  to  religion.'  He  also  tells  us  his  own 
thought,  that  his  father,  like  a  great  man}7  others,  mis- 
took in  one  thing,  for  he  found  as  he  grew  older  that 
he  had  always  been  a  believer  in  Christianity,  but  with 
the  least  confidence  in  the  forms,  and  pretensions,  and 
special  tenets  of  sectarians;  for  by  the  fruits  of  their 
conduct  otherwise,  in  the  realities  and  duties  enjoined 
by  the  Gospel,  they  were  really  no  better  than  those 
they  condemned.  His  neglect  was,  that  he  did  not 
explain  these  things  to  his  children,  and  help  them 
understand  what  was  a  more  rational,  truthful,  and  es- 
sentially practical  explanation  of  Bible  teaching.  Had 
he  done  this  I  should  have  been  saved  much  most  anx- 
ious suffering.  But  he  believed  young  minds  should  not 
be  biased,  but  left  free  to  examine  and  decide  for 
themselves — not  a  very  helpful  manner  of  vouthful  train- 
ing. 

"  1  ou  can  be  assured  that  the  things  to  which  refer- 
ence is  had  in  the  above,  were  a  great  deal  in  my  mind 
and  I  dwelt  upon  them  fclong  and  anxiously.  I  won- 
dered if  other  boys  were  troubled  about  them  as  I  was. 
They  did  not  seem  to  be.  and  my  young  companion,  I 
thought,  treated  them  rather  lightly.  It  is  more  than 
possible  that  they  thought  the  same  of  me.  for  with 
them  I  was  often  gay  and  jolly  like  themselves.  God 
has  so  made  us  that  we  cannot  always  be  of  one  de- 
mure cast  of  mind. 

••  Xot  far  from  this  period  it  was  that  three  young 
ladies  professed  to  be  converted,  and  were  to  join  the 
Baptist  church.  This  seemed  a  time  for  us  boys  to 
.learn  something  and  we  went.  The  Baptists  required  a 
public  confession.  After  the  sermon  they  were  asked 
to  stand  up  and  relate  their  experience.  I  gave  all  at- 
tention, thinking  now  it  would  be  told   us  how   to   get 


42  THE    LIFE    A^'D    LABORS    OF 

converted.  Two  were  very  bashful  and  said  but  little, 
but  in  answer  to  the  leading  questions  asked  them,  such 
as  :  '  Did  you  feel  that  you  were  a  sinner  \  Would  God 
be  just  in  damning  you?  Is  it  through  the  grace  of 
God  and  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  that  you  hope 
to  be  saved?  Do  you  pray  often  in  secret?  Will  you 
be  faithful  to  our  church?'  To  all  of  which  they 
nodded  affirmatively.  The  other  was  more  bold  and 
spoke  up  plainly.  What  I  remembered  was  that  she 
continued  to  sin  till  she  saw  herself  on  the  brink  of  a 
burning  hell  when  she  resolved  to  turn  about  and  get 
religion,  and  now  she  had  found  her  Saviour  and  was 
happy.  Many  years  after  I  saw  that  person  fallen 
far  from  the  character  of  a  practical  Christian  be- 
liever. 

"  My  mind  caught  more  particularly  upon  the  burn- 
ing hell.  I  thought  if  I  could  see  that,  I  might  hope  to 
be  saved.  Many  a  time  I  laid  my  head  upon  my  pilloAv 
and  tried  to  see  it.  I  could  see  soldiers  marching  and 
fighting  at  Plattsburg,  and  various  imaginary  scenes, 
but  caught  no  glimpse  of  what  seemed  necessary  to  my 
conversion,  according  to  the  scheme  of  the  preacher. 
All  was  so  dark  and  incomprehensible  that  I  surren- 
dered to  what  seemed  the  inevitable,  and  resolved  to 
avoid  all  thought  upon  the  subject.  I  still  continued  to 
read  my  Bible  as  carefully  as  ever,  and  many  things 
respecting  the  will  and  pleasure  of  God;  the  object  of 
Christ's  mission,  and  the  requirements  of  duty  seemed 
plain  enough  but  for  the  creeds,  and  I  resolved  that  I  was 
going  to  trust  in  God,  obey  the  commands,  do  my  duty 
as  I  found  it  to  be  as  far  as  possible,  and  abide  the  con- 
sequences. 

"With  my  mind  in  all  this  flurry,  there  came  the 
Methodist  to  preach  in  the  Union  Meeting  House,  and 
Elder  Manning  attacked  them  with  great  severity,  de- 
nouncing them  as  '  noisy  brawlers,  disturbers  of  the 
peace,  misleading  the  people,  and  said  they  ought  to  be 
put   down  by  law.'      A  quarterly  meeting  was  ap- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVEN'S    BALCH.  43 

pointed  to  be  holden  in  a  short  time,  and  as  my  father 
was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  lie  would  be 
away,  he  told  me  to  attend  and  invite  persons  home 
with  me,  as  there  would  be  but  few  persons  to  entertain 
them.  I  did  so,  and  we  had  six  come  to  our  house,  five 
of  whom  were  women.  They  sung  and  prayed,  and 
being  in  charge,  I  entered  into  conversation  with  them 
and  tried  to  state  to  them  some  of  my  difficulties. 
They  sought  to  enlighten  me  by  explaining  the  doctrine 
of  free  will  and  personal  responsibility,  as  opposed  to 
the  ideas  of  the  Calvinists,  that  God  had  ordained  what- 
soever comes  to  pass. 

"  I  listened  attentively,  and  it  seemed  to  me  far  more 
consistent  to  hold  people  responsible  only  for  what  thev 
can  do,  and  that  they  should  be  so  held  after  requiring 
them  to  avoid  evil  and  do  good.  But  the  method  and 
means  of  conversion,  and  the  beginning  and  resultant 
of  the  divine  government,  as  taught  by  them,  remained 
as  dark  and  mysterious  as  ever.  Their  singing  de- 
lighted me,  and  their  preaching  and  exhortations  were 
very  much  more  earnest  and  affectionate  than  those  I 
had  been  accustomed  to  hear.  But  darkness  was  still 
over  me  and  in  me  and  all  about  me,  and  I  found  no 
deliverance.  I  still  kept  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  thought  as  seriously  of  my  reading^as  I  had  done. 
The  duty  of  right  feeling  and  living  was  plain  and 
reasonable,  but  the  dogmatic  teaching  most  strenuously 
insisted  upon,  as  the  most  essential  part  of  experimental 
religion,  I  could  not  understand.  k  In  all  my  get  tings' 
the  wise  man  taught  me  to  'get  understanding.'  And 
as  Aunt  Polly  questioned  me  I  did  not  dare  to  shut  my 
eyes,  call  it  all  plain,  and  leap  in  the  dark.  I  preferred 
to  use  my  reason  and  rise  into  the  light,  rather  than  to 
sink  into  deeper  darkness  of  ignorance  at  the  bidding 
of  others. 

;>  Our  church  structure  was  for  all  denominations, 
of  which  the  Baptists  and  Universalists  were  the  most 
numerous.      The   Universalists   were    the  most   pros- 


■±4  THE    LIFE    AND    LABOKS    OF 

cribed.  They  were  always  preached  against,  and  de- 
nounced as  infidel.  I  remember  going  to  church  one 
Sunday  to  hear  one  preach.  It  was  Mr.  Loveland 
He  read  from  the  Bible  and  Watts'  hymns.  When  he 
came  to  pray  I  was  astonished.  What,  Universalists 
pray  \  This  was  not  as  I  had  been  told.  What  had 
they  to  pray  for?  They  don't  believe  in  God  in  the 
Bible  or  religion,  and  yet  pray  as  devoutly  as  Elder 
Manning  or  anybody  else.  There  was  always  one  sen- 
tence in  Elder  Manning's  prayers  that  was  forever 
troubling  me.  for  it  seemed  to  accuse  the  Almighty  of 
injustice.  It  was  this :  '  O  Lord,  if  thou  hast  been 
just  to  mark  iniquity  in  us.  we  should  long  since  been 
in  the  grave  with  the  dead,  and  in  hell  with  the 
damned.'  The  prayer  of  Mr.  Loveland  was  more  rev- 
erential and  devout.  I  somehow  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  it  was  all  for  effect,  to  make  it  appear  that 
he  was  religious  as  well  as  others ;  that  it  was  put  on 
and  that  it  was  studied  and  superficial. 

•'At  home  I  ventured  to  ask  my  father  about  it, 
whether  Mr.  Loveland  could  be  honest  and  sincere  inhis 
prayers:  and  he  asked  me  '  Why  net? '  He  said,  *The 
difference  between  him  and  Elder  Manning  was  that 
he  prayed  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  according  to 
God's  will,  and  believed  his  prayers  would  be  answered: 
while  Elder  Manning  prayed  for  what  he  believed 
and  preached  never  would  be  answered.'  I  then  asked 
him  if  Universalists  believed  in  God,  and  reverenced 
His  laws?  'Most  certainly'  he  said,  'and  they  believe 
that  he  is  good  and  kind  to  all  His  children;  that  He  sent 
Jesus  to  save  the  whole  world,  and  that  He  is  going  to 
do  it;  that  before  He  yields  up  His  re$ign  He  will  see  of 
the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied.'  This  greatly 
surprised  me,  and  I  feared  that  my  father  was  falling 
into  dangerous  heresv.  and  became  anxious  about 
him." 

It  was  at  this  juncture  of  affairs  that  one  or  two 
things  transpired  that  shook   Bro.  Balch's  faith  in  per- 


FwEV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  45 

sons  of  high  standing  in  Church  and  State.  First  Elder 
Manning  sued  two  members  of  his  own  church  for  def- 
amation of  character,  which  brought  a  great  deal  of 
scandal  along  with  it,  as  well  as  hatred  and  discord. 
And  then  after  this  he  himself  was  prosecuted  for  per- 
jury ;  and  the  State's  attorney  who  was  brought  for- 
ward to  defend  him,  who  stood  high  in  his  profession, 
and  appeared  very  much  of  a  gentleman,  met  with  a 
most  fatal  fall.  And  in  losing  confidence  in  two  such 
persons  it  began  to  creep  into  his  mind  regarding  the 
opinions  these  men  stood  for,  that  perhaps  this  might 
account  for  so  much  indifference  to  religion,  and  so 
much  want  of  faith  and  character  in  the  Christian 
church.  And  finally  he  comes  to  tell  us  in  just  so  many 
words,  'k  Careful  observation,  study  and  inquiry  of  a 
long  life  have  convinced  me  that  the  difficulities  en- 
countered in  my  youth,  when  earnestly  seeking  and 
praying  to  know  the  truth,  and  learn  and  do  my  duty 
in  the  exercise  of  my  best  faculties,  is  a  leading  cause 
of  the  indifference,  irreligion  and  practical  infidelity  so 
prevalent  at  this  day.  What  is  irrational,  contradic- 
tory and  absurd,  serious,  thoughtful  and  honest  minds 
can  not  accept  as  truth  and  duty  in  religion  and  morals 
more  than  in  anything  else."  "  Children  ,"  he  tells  us 
"should  be  taught  to  use  their  reason,  the  distinguishing 
attribute  of  man,  in  what  they  see,  hear,  read  and 
think,  and  employ  it  freely  in  the  conduct  of  their  lives. 
It  is  a  great  wrong,  a  sin  and  shame  to  attempt  to  re- 
strain or  misdirect  it.  Conscience  will  bear  witness, 
and  experience  will  teach  the  value  of  such  a  course, 
and  every  day  will  they  be  blessed  in  pursuing  it/' 
He  tries  to  impress  it,  that  along  with  the  prevalent 


46  KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

errors  of  the  religious  teaching  of  his  early  years  came 
innumerable  evils  which  made  his  young  life  unhappy, 
and  prevented  the  expanding  of  his  mind. 

I  think  there  is  one  thing  in  all  this  that  is  quite 
clear,  that  he  made  uprightness  of  conduct  a  sort  of 
governing  principle,  so  that  but  few  persons,  even  of 
saintly  worth,  are  privileged  to  look  back  upon  a  boy- 
hood more  singularly  pure  and  well  spent.  I  am  told 
that  when  a  boy  he  alwa}^s  stood  aloof  from  being  en- 
gaged in  bad  scrapes,  and  counseled  his  associates  to 
avoid  all  disreputable  young  people  or  places  of  resort. 
Once,  however,  we  are  informed  that  in  marauding  a 
neighbor's  lemon  -patch,  he  was  sent  by  his  father  to 
work  out  the  damages  the  next  day.  He  attributed  his 
success  in  life  to  the  training  of  his  will,  his  energies 
and  his  self-control  b}r  his  parents  at  home,  to  whom  he 
owed  everything  as  it  were. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

YEARS     OF     TEACHING     WHILE     MATURING     HIS     VIEWS     OF 
RELIGION. 

Brother  Balch  informs  us  that  having  gone  through 
the  lessons  and  mastered  all  the  studies  taught  in  the 
district  school  the  fall  after  he  was  sixteen,  his  father 
told  him  that  lie  might  go  to  Beading,  twenty  miles 
away,  and  study  with  the  Bev.  Mr.  Lovel  and.  who  was 
a  Universalist  minister,  and  who  took  a  few  private 
scholars  on  very  favorable  terms  of  board  and  tuition. 
Accordingly  he  set  out  with  everything  he  had  for  an 
outfit  tied  up  in  a  handkerchief.  He  thought  it  alto- 
gether in  vain  that  he  attempt  to  describe  his  thoughts 
as  he  went  forth,  but  says  that 

"  If  ever  a  stricken  soul  prayed  devoutly,  he  did.  in 
view  of  the  responsibilities  that  would  be  resting  upon 
him  as  he  started  out  into  the  world  alone.  Xot  in 
spoken  words,but  in  prof  oundest  thoughts  and  most  earn 
est  desires  I  prayed,"  he  says,  "  to  be  kept  in  the  right 
way  through  my  whole  life,  and  to  follow  it,  let  it  lead 
where  it  might.  I  had  faith  it  would  never  lead  me 
wrong,  with  God  and  the  religion  of  Christ  as  my 
guide.  Four  miles  from  home,"  he  tells  us,  "  I  dropped 
into  a  farm  house  to  warm  mvself,  and  though 
strangers  we  entered  into  a  free  conversation.  The 
man  knew  my  father,  and  said  :  '  He  heard  he  had  a  son 
who  was  a  teacher,'  referring  to  my  brother,  Aaron, 
who    had  fully  prepared   himself  for  teaching.     We 

47 


48  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

talked  of  the  matter,  and  he  persuaded  me  to  go  to  a 
neighbor  of  his  and  take  their  school,  which  he  was 
sure  I  could  do.  I  went,  finding  the  man  in  the  woods 
chopping,  and  without  asking  me  scarcely  any  ques- 
tions, he  offered  me  $7.50  a  month  with  board  for  eight 
weeks.  I  engaged  the  school  and  went  on  to  Reading, 
staying  two  weeks,  renewing  my  studies,  when  I  re- 
turned home  and  received  a  severe  reprimand  for  my 
rashness  in  not  minding  what  I  had  been  told." 

It  was  now  time  for  his  school  to  commence,  and 
he  entered  it,  all  going  well  to  the  end.  He  tells  us 
that  he  "  made  pleasant  acquaintances,  and  gained 
much  useful  knowledge;  and  a  few  days  before  closing, 
a  committee  from  an  adjoining  district  came  to  engage 
him  to  finish  out  their  school  term,  which  had  been 
broken  up  by  the  teacher  being  turned  out,"  as  they 
informed  him.  The  price  agreed  upon  this  time  was 
88  per  month,  for  six  weeks,  and  when  the  six  weeks 
had  expired  he  returned  home  with  *27  in  his  pocket, 
the  first  money  he  had  ever  earned  for  himself,  and 
feeling  as  proud  as  any  young  lad  could. 

His  brother  was  now  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and 
was  leaving  home  to  engage  as  teacher  in  a  private 
school  in  the  city  of  New  York,  called  St.  John's 
Academy,  being  near  St.  John's  Church.  The  money 
was  all  given  to  him,  that  he  might  be  properly  manned 
for  the  new  undertaking,  and  William  settled  down 
again  to  doing  the  work  that  is  always  accumulating  on 
a  farm.  The  brother  had  not  been  at  his  post  long  be- 
fore he  wrote  for  William  to  come  and  be  an  assistant 
in  his  school,  which  he  was  reluctant  to  do,  dreading 
to  appear  in  a  great  city  like  New  York. 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  49 

But  it  was  thought  best,  and  "  the  19th  of  August," 
he  says,  "was  the  day  arranged  forme  to  set  forth  on  my 
journey.  My  father  purchased  for  me  such  an  outfit  as 
he  could,  and  gave  me  $8.00  in  money,  which,  with  the 
few  dollars  I  had  earned  by  working  late  and  early, 
sometimes  by  moonlight.  I  took  all  I  had  in  a  bandana 
handkerchief  and  started.  As  I  bid  good-by  to  my 
home  I  noticed  that  my  father's  voice^  trembled,  and 
tears  glistened  in  his  eyes  as  he  said,  "  God  be  with 
you,  my  son.'' 

••  The  first  night  I  spent  with  my  sister,  three  miles 
from  home,  and  the  next  morning  my  brother-in-law 
took  me  to  the  top  of  the  crossing  of  the  Green  Moun 
tains,  where  he  left  me  to  go  on  alone.  I  cut  me  a  cane 
from  a  shrub,  and  looking  east  over  the  Connecticut 
Yalley  to  the  Granite  Hills,  and  the  grand  Monadnoc,  I 
bowed  reverently  and  turned  westward,  and  journeyed 
forth  into  the  great  open  world,  a  pilgrim  and  a 
stranger.  I  stopped  for  the  night  in  Dorset,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Eupert  Mountains,  where  I  met  parties 
from  Andover  returning  from  a  visit  to  Saratoga 
Springs.  In  the  morning  I  climbed  the  mountain  on 
foot,  and  the  second  day  pursued  my  journey  with 
blistered  and  bloody  feet.  After  arriving  at Greenbush 
and  crossing  the  Hudson  to  Albany,  I  had  gone  but  a 
mile  or  two  when  I  was  overtaken  by  a  gentleman 
with  whom  I  struck  up  a  bargain  to  ride  with  him 
quite  a  distance  on  my  way.  he  to  receive  four  shillings; 
but  one  of  the  shillings  to  be  in  talk,  AVe  were  chatty 
all  the  way.  I  found  he  was  a  lawyer  and  a  member 
of  the  Legislature.  He  inquired  of  me.  and  finding  I 
was  a  teacher,  he  offered  me  sloO  a  year  and  board,  to 
teach  the  school  in  his  village.  I  told  him  *  I  was  a 
minor,  and  my  father  had  engaged  me  in  Xew  York, 
where  I  was  then  going.'  '  I  see  you  are  an  honest 
young  man,'  he  said,  *  and  you  are  right  in  obeying 
vour  father.' " 


50  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

Coming  where  the  roads  parted  and  their  direc- 
tions would  diverge,  lie  was  told  the  road  to  take  to 
reach  the  place  to  which  he  was  going,  and,  having 
agreed  to  pay  him  a  few  shillings  for  his  ride,  he  took 
out  his  wallet  for  that  purpose,  when  it  was  answered  by 
the  stranger  that  he  was  well  paid,  and  he  should  re- 
fuse anything  in  the  way  of  money. 

At  Albany  he  engaged  passage  on  a  sloop  to  the 
city  for  three  dollars,  arriving  there  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, the  third  day,  so  ill-clad  that  the  brother  did  not 
think  it  proper  that  he  be  seen  upon  the  street  till  fur- 
nished with  a  suit  that  should  better  become  him. 

It  should  be  told  that  he  remained  in  the  city  only 
three  months  at  this  time.  The  confinement  in  his 
close  schoolroom  was  undermining  his  health,  and  he 
could  not  become  reconciled  to  the  artificial  distinctions 
and  extravagance  of  the  city  life.  He  tells  us  of  being 
greatly  dissatisfied,  half  sick,  and  homesick  the  whole 
time.  The  man  for  whom  he  worked  was  a  broken- 
down  merchant  from  Boston,  who  sought  to  make  a 
living  and  keep  up  appearances  in  a  way  that  did  not 
meet  his  mind.  The  meals  were  in  a  dark,  dingy  base- 
ment kitchen  ;  the  front  a  miserable,  green  painted 
grocery,  kept  by  a  haggard  old  woman,  and  the  place 
for  lodging  in  a  garret  no  better  than  the  rest.  The 
schoolrooms  were  in  the  second  story,  onhy  one  of 
which,  the  parlors  could  be  accounted  decent.  Outside 
appearances  somewhat  disguised  the  reality,  a  condition 
of  things  which  he  had  never  been  taught  to  respect. 
But  he  says  :  "  He  bore  it  with  patience,  and  with  what 
fortitude  he  could,  but  in  sadness  all  the  while." 

He  speaks  of  "  seeing  but  very  little  of  the  city,  but 
enough  to  make  him  despise  its   fashions   and   false- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  51 

hoods.''  It  appeared  to  him  that  life  here  "was 
a  sham,  a  pretense,  and  a  wretched  wronging  of 
humanity.  The  rich,  the  poor,  the  good,  the  bad, 
the  gayly  grand  and  miserable,  were  all  brought  con- 
spicuously together,  and  the  widest  extremes  were 
jumbled  in  the  most  careless  and  reckless  manner. 
Even  in  the  churches  there  was  a  costly  array  of  worldly 
pride  that  did  not  at  all  comport  with  the  teachings 
and  example  of  the  humble  Xazarene.  And  if  all  this 
was  to  be  found  in  religion,  where  were  they  to  look  for 
plain,  honest,  sober  realities  in  everyday  life,  or  in 
character  ?  They  did  not  instruct  or  edify,  and  every- 
thing was  so  unlike  the  meekness  and  simplicity  of  his 
rural  home  that  he  cared  not  to  know  or  find  out 
farther  about  it." 

I  again  quote  his  own  Avords,  in  which  he  tells  us: 

"I  had  fully  resolved  that  I  was  going  to  leave  the 
wickedness  and  worthlessness  of  so  dismal  a  place  to 
me,  when  as  yet  I  had  said  nothing  to  my  brother,  or 
to  my  employer,  of  it  all,  and  I  only  told  them  a  week 
before  leaving  the  city.  Every  persuasion  was  made 
use  of  to  induce  me  to  remain.  It  was  Saturday  even- 
ing when  everything  was  in  readiness  for  me  to  leave 
the  next  morning,  and  my  brother  said  to  me  that  he 
had  persuaded  father  to  let  me  come  to  the  city  that  I 
might  learn  something  of  the  world  and  be  a  man 
among  men  ;  and  now  that  I  should  return  to  be  a  no- 
body and  a  nothing,  among  the  stones  and  stumps  of 
Vermont,  the  rest  of  my  days,  he  did  not  know  how  to 
be  reconciled  to  it.  My  answer  was  brief,  but  plain. 
I  shall  never  pretend  to  be  what  I  am  not,  I  will  not 
play  false  with  myself  or  with  others.  \Ve  were  both 
sad  at  parting.  Xine  years  after  this  my  brother  came 
and  studied  with  me  in  preparation  for  the  ministry, 
which  he  entered  and  pursued  till  his  death." 


52  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

While  passing  up  the  river  there  came  a  proposition 
from  the  Captain  that  he  become  a  mate  for  his  vessel 
the  next  season,  which  he  was  almost  persuaded  to  ac- 
cept, and  told  the  Captain  that  he  would  take  the  advice 
of  his  father  on  reaching  home  and  allow  him  to  decide 
the  matter.  But  the  company  into  which  he  was 
thrown,  and  an  attempt  to  compel  him  by  force  and 
threats  to  settle  up  the  voyage  with  them  in  a  drinking 
frolic,  put  this  all  by,  and  made  the  dark  world  as  it 
was  to  him  seem  even  darker  than  ever,  till  he  tells  us 
he  was  "  frightened  at  himself."  It  was  a  mere  hap- 
pening, or  cfiance  event,  that  delivered  him  out  of  their 
hands  only  to  confront  him  with  still  another  proposi- 
tion to  become  a  partner  with  his  uncle  in  his  meat- 
market,  to  which  he  had  hesitatingly  consented.  But 
no  sooner  was  he  expected  to  assist  in  slaughtering  an 
animal  than  his  heart  entirely  failed  him,  and  he  pulled 
off  his  frock,  retiring  from  the  yard,  leaving  others  to 
do  the  work  which  he  could  not  do,  and  for  which  he 
was  laughed  at,  and  told  that  he  was  "sighing  for  an 
opportunity  to  be  back  in  the  mountains  when  it  was 
right  in  hand  for  him  to  achieve  a  fortune.''  And  in- 
deed it  hardly  seemed  to  him  now  that  anything  was 
left  to  him  but  to  return  to  his  home  and  devote  him- 
self to  the  kind  of  work  which  he  had  so  recently  left 
in  going  to  the  city. 

On  a  most  beautiful  afternoon  when  he  had  ascended 
out  of  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and  from  an  eminence 
from  which  was  presented  to  him  a  grand  view  of  a 
wide  region  from  the  Green  Mountains  over  all  that 
vast  intervening  country  to  the  Catskills  and  the  Mo- 
hawk— the  Xovember  sun  shining  splendidly  upon  the 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  53 

beautiful  scene — he  waited,  and  wondered,  and  admired 
— almost  worshiped:  and  forgetting  himself  in  his 
reverie  he  was  happy  again.  lie  grew  more  and  more 
calm,  and  as  he  reflected  he  said  to  himself: 

"  Why  all  this  uncertainty  and  unsatisfactoriness  of 
life  I  Here  is  nature  robed  in  splendor.  The  hills  and 
dales,  the  mountains  and  rivers,  the  fields  and  forests, 
are  here  as  I  passed  this  way  before,  looking  as  smil- 
ingly as  they  can.  Yonder  is  the  sun.  moving  majes- 
tically in  his  glorious  chariot  of  light,  steadily  pursuing 
his  course  from  day  to  day,  scattering  beauties  and 
blessings  upon  all  the  earth,  and  why  should  man  be 
unhappy  \  With  all  else  fulfilling  some  benevolent 
mission,  why  should  not  mar,,  the  noblest  and  best  of 
the  Creator's  work,  have  some  high  purpose  as  well  \ 
There  must  be  somewhere  a  place,  a  work,  a  duty,  for 
every  least  creature  of  His." 

Then  his  thoughts  rose  to  a  higher  realm  : 

'•  He  who  made  all  things  made  me.  I  am  the  work 
of  His  hands,  and  He  loves  me  with  all  the  ardor  of  an 
infinite  affection;  loves  me  as  His  child,  with  a  bound- 
less, perfect,  everlasting  love,  and  this  should  reconcile 
me  to  the  methods  of  His  government.  Xowhere 
could  I  look  but  I  beheld  the  most  convincing  evidence 
of  His  impartial  beneficence.  Reflections  of  this  char- 
acter brought  me  to  the  gate  of  a  new  world,  and  fixed 
a  determination  in  me  to  do  my  duty  as  it  was  made 
plain  to  me.  to  love  all  men  and  work  for  their  welfare 
as  opportunity  was  afforded  me:  to  make  the  best  of 
everything,  not  being  anxious  about  the  future,  but 
submitting  myself  to  the  will  of  God. 

"This  was  a  crisis  in  my  life.  I  rose  in  strength, 
full  of  faith  and  hope  in  God.  and  resolute  to  pursue  the 
path  marked  out  forme,  lead  where  it  might.  A  little 
way  on  I  came  to  a  rill  making  down  from  the  moun- 
tains, beside  which  I  ate  of  my  last  spare  loaf  and  drank 


54  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

from  the  stream,  and  no  meal  ever  relished  better.  My 
journey  homeward,  though  wearying  to  the  flesh,  con- 
firmed in  me  the  resolutions  I  had  formed.  Much  did  I 
reflect  on  the  passage,'  It  is  good  for  a  man  to  bear  the 
yoke  in  his  youth.'  Often  carriages  passed  me  with 
empty  seats,  but  no  one  asked  me  to  ride,  and  I  asked 
nonef  Xor  did  I  ask  for  food,  though  suffering  greatly 
from  hunger.  Frozen  apples  served  for  my  breakfast 
on  that  last  day.  and  then  I  resolved  that  never  while 
riding,  with  means  to  carry  him,  would  I  pass  a  lone 
and  weary  traveler  by  the  roadside.  That  resolution  I 
have  kept." 

He  tells  us  of  being  lovingly  received,  with  no  cen- 
sure when  he  related  his  experience  and  gave  the  reason 
of  his  return.  He  remained  at  home  but  a  few  days, 
when  he  went  to  Ludlow  and  engaged  to  teach  the 
same  school  he  had  taught  the  previous  winter. 

"There  were  two  Quaker  families  in  the  district, 
from  whom  I  learned,"  he  says,  "the  simple  principles 
and  habits  of  that  people,  and  admired  them  :  they 
seemed  so  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  I 
have  profited  by  them  ever  since." 

Two  days  before  that  school  closed  a  person  came 
to  him  from  an  adjoining  town  and  engaged  him  to 
teach  a  school  where  the  teacher  had  been  turned  away. 
He  was  offered  an  advance  of  wages  to  commence  the 
school  at  once,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  of  the 
terms  made  him.  Returning  home  and  relating  to  his 
father  what  he  had  done,  it  was  thought  that  he  should 
not  enter  it,  as  it  was  a  large  and  bad  school,  always  in 
trouble  with  its  teacher,  and  if  he  had  won  a  reputa- 
tion he  was  now  sure  to  lose  it.  The  son  could  only 
answer  that  "  he  had  agreed  to  go,  and  if  he  did  his 
best  he  could  not  be  blamed,  as  he  would  be  if  he  failed 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALGH.  55 

to  keep  his  engagement  "  :  when  the  fat  her  told  him  to 
u  go  and  try  it,  but  be  careful."  At  the  opening  of  the 
school  the  son  explained  to  the  scholars  what  had  been 
told  him  of  the  school,  and  that  ••  he  had  hesitated  to 
undertake  to  be  their  teacher,  lest  he  should  bring  him- 
self into  trouble  and  get  a  bad  name  :  but  if  they  would 
agree  to  do  their  best  to  change  this  opinion,  he  would 
help  them,  and  he  thought  by  working  together  they 
would  succeed  to  the  advantage  of  both.  If  they 
favored  this  idea  would  they  take  their  seats  and  books, 
and  they  would  begin.  There  was  nothing  that  looked 
like  trouble  during  the  whole  term/' 

Eeturning  home,  his  father  was  given  his  wages,, 
and  they  talked  over  the  matter  of  future  prospects. 
The  father  thought  it  better  that  he  fit  himself  for 
teaching,  and  perhaps  go  to  Kentucky,  where  he  had 
heard  teachers  were  wanted  at  fair  wages.  If  the 
son  chose  he  could  take  what  money  he  had  earned 
and  expend  it  in  studies  with  Mr.  Loveland,  which 
was  the  same  proposition  made  him  before.  And 
the  son  tells  that  such  encouragement  raised  his  am- 
bition, and  he  decided  at  once  that  he  would  do  so. 
He  borrowed  of  a  schoolmate  some  Latin  books  he 
thought  to  study,  and  started  in  pursuit  of  an  edu- 
cation. He  was  a  whole  day  making  the  distance 
through  snow  and  mud.  and  reached  his  destination 
at  9  p.  m.,  tired  and  hungry. 

The  next  day.  March  29,  1824,  he  began  his  studies 
of  Greek,  Latin  and  Mathematics.  As  a  change  from 
his  books  he  resolved  to  read  the  Bible  through  in 
course,  noting  such  passages  as  related  plainly  to  the 
will,  pleasure,  purpose  and  plan  of  God,  in  the  ere- 


56  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

■ation  and  government  of  the  world ;  and  the  rela- 
tions, duties  and  responsibilities  of  man  to  his  Maker 
and  fellow-men,  and  find  if  he  could  the  ground  of 
hope  for  a  future  life. 

We  pass  now  to  April  13,  1825.  He  is  this  day 
nineteen  years  old.  It  is  the  annual  fast,  and  as 
there  is  no  public  services  in  the  place,  the  day  is 
spent  in  reading  and  thinking.  He  comes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  what  he  is  doing  is  at  least  a  dull  business, 
and  wonders  what  it  is  all  for.  It  may  have  a  mean- 
ing, and  be  useful ;  but  it  looked  to  him  not  very 
needful  to  find  out  by  such  a  round-about  way  of 
quirks  and  turns,  what  the  ancients  were  desirous  to 
express,  seeing  we  had  enough  written  in  a  much 
plainer  way  that  could  be  made  of  practical  use  in 
this  living  age.  Bat  having  begun  to  be  learned  he 
supposed  he  must  go  forward,  believing  that  the  dark- 
est time  is  always  just  before  day.  By  request  of  Mr. 
Loveland,  he  went  with  him  twenty  miles  on  foot  to 
hear  him  preach,  he  telling  him  that  he  wanted  to 
teach  him  to  walk,  for  the  good  of  his  body  as  well 
as  his  mind. 

He  had  been  from  home  only  a  month,  and  now 
returned  to  help  his  father  in  some  of  his  spring 
work.  After  another  month  worn  and  weary  he  re- 
commenced his  studies,  pursuing  them  as  he  could 
under  greatest  difficulties  ;  but  considering  that  it  was 
fortunate  if  there  was  any  honest  way  for  the  poor  to 
get  an  education.  Sundays,  as  they  came,  he  would 
try  and  hear  somebody  preach,  though  frequently  by 
going  quite  a  distance  away. 

The  month  of  July  was  spent  in  helping  his  father 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    LALCH.  57 

hay  it.  when  he  packed  up  his  effects  and  returned  to 
his  books  again.  Soon  after  this  he  heard  a  sermon 
preached  from  the  text  u  Satisfy  us  early  with  Thy 
mercy,  that  we  may  rejoice  and  be  glad  all  our  days." 

"  The  preacher  was  not  a  person  of  much  learning, 
but  his  soul  seemed  to  overflow  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
kindred  humanity.  He  applied  religion  to  the  young, 
as  a  guide  and  safe-guard  of  life,  sure  to  bring  a  daily 
blessing.  It  was  a  great  lesson  to  me.  It  was  the  first 
sermon  I  ever  heard  which  took  a  deep  hold  on  my 
feelings,  and  aroused  in  me  the  conviction  of  the  obli- 
gation of  obedience  to  God  for  his  great  mercy,  as  a 
fitting  preparation  for  the  life  that  was  before  me.  I 
was  now  happy. 

;;  As  Mr.  Loveland  was  to  be  absent  during  the  fall, 
I  now  went  to  my  home  remaining  but  a  single  night, 
when  I  left  for  Chester  Academy  to  fit  for  College. 
Three  months  were  spent  there  in  hard  study.  I  had 
not  been  in  the  school  long,  before  a  fellow  student,  a 
charity  scholar  preparing  for  the  ministry,  came  to  my 
room  to  catechise  me  on  religion,especially  in  the  matter 
of  faith.  I  told  him  I  believed  in  God  the  Father;  in 
Jesus  the  Savior ;  and  in  the  moral  responsibility  of  all 
men,  according  to  their  ability  to  know  their  duty.  He 
asked  me  if  I  believed  in  prayer  i  I  told  him  I  did — es- 
pecially in  secret  prayer.  He  asked  me  to  pray,  I  did 
so — the  first  I  had  ever  made  in  the  presence  of  any 
person.  It  was  in  the  words  of  Jesus.  He  then  began 
to  press  upon  me  certain  dogmatic  tenets,  as  essential 
to  salvation.  I  told  him  I  had  formed  no  doctrinal 
theory,  but  had  nearly  finished  my  first  reading  of  the 
Bible  in  course  ;  had  noted  important  passages,  but  had 
not  arrived  at  any  definite  conclusion ;  that  I  was  not 
prepared  to  accept  for  doctrine  the  commandments  of 
men,  however  ancient  or  popular.  He  was  afraid  I 
would  be  led  astray,  and  become  an  heretic.  I  said  I 
might  be  from  the  sects ;  but  I  hoped  not  from  God 


58  THE    LIFE  AND   LAB0KS    OF 

and  truth  and  right  and  duty ;  that  I  was  not  prepared 
to  enter  in  controversy  on  matters  of  opinion  ;  nor 
willing  to  be  dictated  to  by  any  one.  He  retired,  per- 
haps not  satisfied.  During  the  term  the  students  were 
required  to  declaim.  I  tried  it  with  the  rest,  having  com- 
mitted, as  I  thought  correctly,  a  part  of  one  of  Adams' 
orations.  Mounted  on  the  rostrum,  my  knees  trembled 
like  Belshazzar's,  and  all  was  cloudy  around  me.  I 
started  out  and  stumbled,  making  a  complete  failure, 
bowing  myself  off  of  the  stage,  and  resolving  never  to 
attempt  anything  of  the  kind  again.  But  by  the  earn- 
est entreaty  of  the  preceptor  I  consented  to  make  a 
second  trial.  This  time  I  took  Cicero's  oration  against 
Oataline,  and  succeeded  fairly  with  two  or  three  pages. 
I  mention  these  things  to  say-  that  I  never  had  a  faculty 
of  committing  language  in  a  way  to  recite  it.  My  mind 
has  run  more  on  facts  than  on  words. 

"  At  the  conclusion  of  the  term  my  room-mate  and 
self  were  assured  that  another  year  would  fit  us  for 
college.  But  my  brother,  with  a  second  person, 
had  now  bought  St.  John's  academy,  and  desired  me  to 
be  an  assistant  teacher.  As  I  had  no  means  to  go 
through  college,  I  consented  to  their  proposition,  pro- 
vided they  could  make  arrangements  with  my  father. 
He  was  too  poor  to  help  me,  and  I  knew  of  no  one  of 
whom  I  could  borrow  the  money,  and  besides  I  had  no 
disposition  to  do  so.  "Owe  no  man  anything,  but  to 
love  one  another,"  was  my  Bible  motto.  I  would  in- 
volve no  man  with  a  risk  on  my  success.  I  had  read  in 
Poor  Kichard's  Almanac,  "  Let  every  tub  stand  on  its 
own  bottom,"  and  the  Book  said,  "Despise  not  the 
day  of  small  things."  Terms  were  agreed  upon,  and 
I  was  to  be  there  soon  after  the  termination  of  my 
school. 

"  I  attended  a  funeral  at  this  time  where  Mr.  Love- 
land  officiated.  When  I  witnessed  the  grief  of  the 
mourners,  the  thonght  struck  me  that  I  ought  to  be  a 
preacher,  and  help,  teach  and  comfort  my  fellow-men.  It 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  59 

soon  vanished,  however,  when  I  thought  of  my  unfit- 
ness for  such  a  vocation.  I  had  need  to  be  taught  and 
be  more  fully  established  in  the  principles  of  Christian- 
ity. No !  I  could  never  think  of  being  a  preacher, 
lawyer  or  doctor.  I  would  be  a  teacher,  for  all  had 
need  of  being  taught,  and  in  that  profession  I  could  be 
of  some  service. 

"  March  17th,  in  company  with  a  particular  friend, 
I  started  in  a  wagon  for  New  York.  This  time  I  had 
$15  for  expenses.  The  roads  being  bad.  we  were  three 
days  reaching  Albany,  as  long  as  I  had  been  in  walk- 
ing it  before.  From  there,  by  steamer,  the  passage 
was  quickly  made  in  twelve  hours  ;  being  a  third  of  the 
time  it  took  by  a  sail  vessel,  and  by  rail  three  hours  at 
present.     So  hurries  the  world  on  its  way." 

Mr.  Balch  commenced  his  school,  he  tells  us,  with 
feelings  verv  different  and  everything  much  improved 
from  his  former  visit.  All  was  cheerful  and  happy, 
and  he  started  with  a  firm  resolution  never  to  com- 
plain, but  to  do  his  duty  and  hope  for  the  best.  On 
the  13th  day  of  April  he. could  say,  "  I  have  closed  my 
twentieth  year."  And  here  I  condense  from  his  jour- 
nal the  following : 

"  One  year  more  to  prepare  for  manhood.  Calmly  do 
I  review  my  past  life,  and  find  many  errors  and  mis- 
takes, chiefly  the  waste  of  time  which  might  have  been 
better  employed.  These  I  shall  never  be  able  to  recall, 
but  will  try  and  make  them  lessons  for  future  improve- 
ment. My  opportunities  have  been  limited  for  intel- 
lectual culture,  but  not  for  the  more  essential  moral 
education  which  forms  character  in  every  condition  and 
period  of  life,  and  tends  directly  to  open  the  way  to 
future  happiness,  and  honorable  success  in  life.  I  see 
now  how  much  precious  time  is  wasted,  which  with 
proper  means  might  be  profitably  employed  in  gaining 
useful  knowledge  that  would  conduce  to  the  highest 
interest  of  all.     I  have  not   had  such  means,  except 


60  THE    LIFE  AND   LABORS    OF 

from  the  open  volume  of  nature  spread  out  before  me, 
and  from  the  Bible,  which  I  have  found  in  agreement 
with  wdiat  is  more  important  to  the  welfare  of  man- 
kind. There  is  much  in  both  I  cannot  comprehend, 
and  it  is  about  these  I  have  heard  preachers  and  peo- 
ple talk  and  contend  most  earnestly.  I  have  thought 
it  better  to  hold  fast,  and  make  improvement  from, 
what  is  plain,  practical  and  immediate,  than  to  be  ur- 
gently seeking  to  find  out  what  is  difficult,  and  vehe- 
mently striving  to  convince  others  of  what  is  not  clear 
in  one's  own  mind.  I  am  now  resolved  to  devote  all 
spare  time  to  study;  to  continue  to  search  the  Scrip- 
tures with  free  and  untrammelled  thought,  and  to  per- 
severe in  the  way  of  well-doing.  God  guide  me  and 
keep  me  in  the  path  of  duty,  keep  me  from  evil  and 
make  me  useful  while  I  live. 

"Soon  after  commencing  my  school  I  was  induced 
to  join  a  literary  society  in  what  was  then  Green- 
wich village,  composed  mostly  of  teachers,  and  re- 
turning late  one  night  from  this  Society,  the  moon 
shining  uncommonly  bright,  portions  of  Hudson  street 
open  to  the  river,  vessels  were  silently  drifting  with  the 
tide.  The  hills  on  the  shore  stood  up  in  bold  relief. 
The  streets  were  quiet,  save  the  tread  of  watchmen  on 
their  rounds,  and  an  occasional  passer.  It  was  a  grand 
silent,  solemn  hour  for  meditation.  In.  this  great  city, 
small  in  comparison  then  with  what  it  has  come  to  be,  how 
different  everything  from  what  I  had  been  accustomed  to 
look  upon  in  my  own  rural  home.  All  was  marked 
with  change  in  the  outward,  and  yet  God  and  goodness, 
truth  and  duty,  did  not  change.  The  inward,  the  real, 
is  the  same  everywhere,  and  always,  but,  oh,  the  pit-falls 
that  one  has  to  shun.  Wise  is  the  man  who  is  not 
overborne  and  caused  to  depart  from  the  strait  and 
narrow  way  by  the  glittering  temptations  that  lie  in 
wait  to  deceive  the  unwary.  '  The  Lord  preserve  me 
from  evil'  was  my  fervent  prayer.  Had  I  stood  before 
the  multitude  then,  it  seemed  as  if  I  could  proclaim 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  61 

aloud  the  greatness  of  Him  who  has  made  all  things, 
made  man  what  he  is,  and  what  he  is  capable  of:  and 
could  warn  convincingly  my  fellow-men  to  beware  of 
the  insidiousness  of  sin,  which  surely  leads  to  misery 
and  moral  death.  I  almost  resolved  that  I  would 
attempt  it  at  some  future  time.'' 

He  found  that  his  landlord  was  a  Presbyterian,  and 
started  in  with  the  family  in  attending  that  church. 
•'The  pastor,  Mr.  Patton, "  he  tells  us,"  was  very  loyal 
to  the  creed,  and  defended  all  the  severer  parts  of  it 
with  the  greatest  alacrity  possible  ;  election  and  repro- 
bation, effectual  calling,  final  perseverence  of  the  saints, 
once  in  grace  always  in  grace,  endless  misery.  &c.  &c. 
On  the  latter  especially  he  placed  the  greatest  impor- 
tance, and  described  with  vehement  eloquence  the 
tortures  of  the  damned  in  the  style  of  one-hundred 
years  ago.  On  one  occasion  he  described  heaven,  with 
God  and  Jesus  seated  on  a  great  white  throne  with 
the  chosen  ones,  the  elect,  kneeling  before  them,  among 
whom  doubtless  would  be  some  of  his  congregation, 
while  the  great  majority  of  them  would  be  weeping 
and  wailing  and  gnashing  their  teeth,  in  the  flames  of 
a  never-ending  Avretchedness,  fit  only  to  be  in  the 
society  of  the  damned." 

At  home  he  was  ashed  by  the  family  how  he  en- 
joyed the  sermon,  to  which  he  made  answer,  "  not  at 
all,  and  if  he  believed  the  Bible  taught  the  existence 
of  such  a  God,  he  would  never  wish  to  read  it  more, 
for  he  could  conceive  of  nothing  worse  of  an  almighty 
demon.*'  He  was  told  that  his  "  remarks  seemed  very 
severe  for  a  young  man,"  and  remarked  that  "  young 
or  old.  it  was  all  the  same,  for  he  could  not  love  and 


62  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

worship  such  a  being,  which  it  seemed  to  him  that 
neither  the  Bible,  reason,  nor  the  purest  and  noblest 
desires  of  the  human  heart  taught."  And  he  added 
that  he  "  could  not  understand  how  a  man  could  pray 
so  fervently  for  the  salvation  of  the  whole  human 
family,  believing  that  his  prayers  had  necessarily  to 
go  unanswered,  since  it  was  unalterably  decreed  that 
the  greater  portion  of  them  all  would  be  damned.' 
The  very  tame  answer  was,  "  God  does  not  act  to 
please  us."  Again  he  replied  that  he  "  was  glad  of  it, 
that  he  acted  to  please  himself,  and  we  might  always 
therefore  put  our  trust  in  Him  and  not  in  human  creeds." 

It  is  just  about  impossible  to  understand  the  horrid 
views  that  were  preached  from  the  pulpits  of  those 
days,  and  the  dark  pall  that  hung  over  the  world  upon 
these  subjects  ;  and  we  little  know  how  much  it  meant 
to  stand  for  truth  against  the  falsehoods  of  men  when 
the  fathers  stood  for  it  fifty  and  sixty  years  ago  ;  a  vast 
deal  more  than  now.  Our  people  and  ministers  could 
not  see  why  those  views  were  not  grossly  immoral  in 
their  tendency  ;  especially  when  sinners  were  told  that 
there  was  vastly  more  present  happiness  in  sin  than  in 
righteousness,  and  the  only  motive  for  loving  and 
serving  God  was  the  selfish  fear  of  being  punished  for- 
ever. 

Bro.  Balch  tells  us  that  much  more  was  said,  not 
the  most  edifying ;  though  he  did  not  think  that  any  per- 
sonal feeling  grew  out  of  the  conversation.  But  as 
silence  ensued  for  some  little  time,  he  was  becoming 
frightened  at  what  he  had  said,  when  it  was  remarked 
that  he  would  see  things  differently  when  grown 
older.     But  he  confesses  that  he  never  has ;  that  the 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  63 

world  has  greatly  changed  in  the  last  halt  century 
upon  all  these  subjects,  till  we  never  hear  the  pleas- 
ures of  sin  talked  of ;  the  rolling  it  as  a  sweet  morsel 
under  the  tongue ;  and  the  pursuing  it  with  a  zest  so 
long  as  there  are  no  evil  consequences  to  be  experi- 
enced in  the  world  to'come. 


CHAPTER  VII 

CONVERSION  TO  UNIVERSALISM. 

Our  narrative  has  already  anticipated,  in  the  order 
of  time,  some  things  that  are  now  to  follow,  in  show- 
ing forth  the  leanings  of  Bro.  Balch's  mind  at  this 
early  period  ;  and  yet,  it  is  quite  likely  that  he  is  to 
pass  through  trying  experiences,  and  most  important 
changes,  before  he  shall  become  perfectly  established 
in  views  that  shall  bear  the  scrutiny  of  his  most 
approved  judgment.  But  it  is  now  he  is  resolved  that 
he  will  seek  instruction  and  edification  from  some 
other  altar ;  and  he  tries  several  places,  to  see  if  he  can 
not  find  some  more  consistent  teaching  to  which  his 
mind  and  heart  can  give  credence. 

He  first  goes  for  a  time  to  a  Unitarian  church,  and 
is  somewhat  pleased;  but  is  not  instructed  concerning 
those  subjects  which  he  had  been  taught  as  truth,  but 
could  not  believe,  and  yet  must  accept,  or  he  could  not 
be  saved.  He  next  goes  to  hear  a  Kev.  Mr.  Mitchell, 
an  eloquent  preacher,  but  with  a  mystical  way  of  treat- 
ing his  subjects  which  he  could  not  understand,  more 
especially  some  ideas  of  a  substitutional  theoiw,  and  a 
crucified  Savior,  in  which  God  is  pleased  with  the  sacri- 
fice of  His  own  Son  as  an  offset  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
JSTo  sinner  was  to  suffer  for  his  own  sins.  Sin  was  of 
the  nature  of  a  debt,  which  called  for  satisfaction  or 
payment,  and  Jesus  was  to  pay  this  debt,  excusing  the 

64 


REV.  WILLIAM   STEVENS    BALCH.  65 

sinner  from  all  suffering  on  his  own  part.  Young  Balch 
could  not  see  how  there  was  any  justice  in  such  a  trans- 
action. 

After  this  he  tells  us  a  patron  of  the  school  invited 
him  to  go  and  listen  to  still  another  preacher  and  says: 

"I  went  and  the  sermon  was  on  the  Atonment.  The 
preacher  defined  the  word  as  reconciliation;  that  God 
was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  not 
Himself  unto  the  world.  It  was,  in  effect,  making  the 
sinner  at  one  with  God,  and  placing  him  on  terms  of 
friendship  with  Him.  It  was  this  that  opened  to  me  a 
train  of  thought  which  made  the  matter  plain,  and 
harmonious  with  strict  justice;  the  natural  law  of  cause 
and  effect;  holding  each  and  every  man  responsible  for 
his  own  conduct,  the  same  after  as  before  the  death  of 
Christ.  I  saw  that  what  the  law  demanded  was  obedi- 
ence, and  employed  punishment  as  a  means,  and  not  as 
an  end,  in  the  method  of  the  Divine,  as  it  should  be  in 
all  human,  governments.  My  thoughts  of  God  hence- 
forth as  the  great  and  good  Father,  governing  the 
world  for  the  ultimate  good  of  all  his  children,  and  his 
own  glory,  were  of  course  immensely  exalted;  and  it 
removed  from  my  mind  a  burden  of  anxiety,  and  a  cloud 
of  doubt,  and  drew  me  into  a  closer  unity  and  rever- 
ence, and  a  more  filial  trust  and  confidence,  than  I  had 
ever  felt  before.  My  heart  rejoiced,  and  I  was  exceed- 
ing glad  at  what  I  had  heard.  I  continued  to  attend 
that  church  for  many  months,  and  was  greatly  com- 
forted. 

"  One  evening,  sitting  alone,  and  knowing  no  one 
present,  the  communion  service  was  celebrated.  The 
preacher  explained  it,  much  to  my  mind,  as  a  memorial 
of  the  love  of  God  and  the  self-sacrifice  of  Christ,  as 
set  forth  in  the  gospel ;  and  when  the  emblems  were 
offered  me  I  partook,  with  the  silent  prayer  that  I 
might  feed  on  the  substance  and  spirit  of  the  truth  as 
made  known  to  me,  and  that  God  would  thus  approve 


QQ  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

the  act  and  bless  it,  to  my  lasting  good.  I  went  to  my 
home  that  evening  feeling  that  my  conscience  approved 
the  act,  and  with  firmer  resolutions  to  do  my  duty  in 
life  as  it  should  be  open  before  me,  and  to  shun  what- 
ever might  have  a  tendency  to  lead  me  into  evil.  I  felt 
that  I  had  more  closely  allied  myself,  and  was  identified 
with  the  Christian  religion,  and  it  was  a  step  full  of 
sacred  emotions  that  I  never  saw  cause  for  regretting. 

"  The  summer  wore  away,  and  in  pursuing  my  my 
studies  alone  I  went  but  little  about  the  city,  except  for 
exercise.  I  spent  much  of  my  time,  in  cool  evenings, 
on  the  roof  of  the  house  in  meditating  upon  life,  its 
lessons  and  duties.  "With  the  end  of  July  came  the 
summer  vacation,  and  I  was  for  a  time  a  good  deal  at 
a  loss  to  know  how  to  spend  it.  Country  resorts  and 
seashore  recreations  were  not  so  common  events  as  now, 
and  I  had  no  means  to  spend  on  such  indulgencies.  The 
passage  out  of  the  city  over  to  the  Jersey  side  was  but 
a  shilling,  and  being  in  search  of  cheap  board  I  decided 
on  my  first  journey  among  foreigners,  as  the  Jersey 
folks  were  called.  And  as  I  inquired  for  board,  and 
told  who  I  was  and  what  I  wanted,  the  woman  thought 
she  could  take  me,  but  would  go  and  see  her  man  and 
let  me  know.  Returning,  she  would  take  me  at  $2  a 
week,  plain  board.  I  found  it  a  quiet,  Jersey-Dutch 
family,  myself  much  at  home,  the  husband  keeping  a 
small  meat  market  and  two  daughters  helpful  about  the 
house. 

"  Devoting  much  time  to  books,  the  old  lady  soon 
asked  me  if  I  was  studying  to  be  a  dominie.  I  had  not 
then  learned  the  meaning  of  the  word,  but  as  I  supposed 
that  it  was  something  about  books,  I  told  her  I  was,  and 
immediately  I  was  the  object  of  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion. I  found  that  they  were  all  good  Christians  after 
the  Reformed  Dutch  type,  and  regarded  me  as  one  of 
them.  As  names  and  titles  were  of  but  little  value  in 
religion,  as  I  was  disposed  to  think,  I  took  no  pains  to 
correct  my  innocent  blunder,  and  we  mingled  our  ideas 
in  perfect  harmony. 


REV.  MILIIAM    STEVENS    EALCH.  67 

"  One  evening  the  conversation  of  the  good  lady 
turned  on  her  brother,  who  lived  some  mi  Fes  in  the 
country,  for  whom  she  felt  a  great  anxiety,  for  he  had 
become  a  Universalis!;.  'Indeed,'  said  I,  "what  does 
that  mean?'  'Why,  he  believes  all  men  are  going  to 
be  saved.'  ;  I  suppose,  then,  he  has  become  a  very  bad 
man,  hasn't  he^'  '  Oh.  no,  he  is  one  of  the  best  men  I 
ever  saw  ;  always  doing  good,  and  trying  to  help  every- 
body.' 'He  never  reads  the  Bible,  does  he?'  'Oh, 
yes,  he  reads  it  all  the  time  when  he  can.  I  can't 
quote  a  passage  but  he  tells  me  all  about  it.  Well, 
I  must  confess  that  there  are  many  passages  which 
lead  us  to  hope  that  doctrine  may  be  true ;  such  as 
"  God  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  truth  ;"  and  Jesus  "gave  Himself  a  ran- 
som for  all  to  be  testified  in  due  time,"  and  "  As  in 
Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.'' 
Yes.  he  quotes  them,  and  it  does  say  so.  but  it  can't 
mean  so.'  'Jesus  tasted  death  for  every  man,  and 
became  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world.'  'Yes,  that  says  so,  but  it  can't  mean  so.'  'He 
will  swallow  up  death  in  victory,  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  death.'  'God  shall  be  all  in  all.'  '  Yes,  that 
says  so,  but  it  can't  mean  so.'  Numerous  passages  I 
quoted,  to  ail  of  which  she  had  the  same  answer. 
Finally,  the  old  gentleman  interrupted :  ;  What  do 
you  think  such  Scriptures  do  mean,  Margaret,  if  they 
do  not  mean  what  they  say?.'  'I  don't  know,' she 
answered,  but  I  believe  our  Dominie  knows  more  about 
them  than  Brother  John  does.  What  do  you  think, 
mister  V  '  I  have  not  yet  studied  far  enough  to  explain 
them  differently  from  what  you  think  they  say.  I  am 
not  caring  any  great  deal  about  doctrines  and  command- 
ments of  men  which  are  not  taught  plainly  in  the 
Bible,  and  are  not  agreeable  to  reason  and  the  best 
desire  of  the  human  sonl.  Such  passages,  if  there  are 
those  that  cannot  be  understood,  I  leave  them  till  we 
shall  have  some  further  revelation.     It  appears  to  me 


68  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

that  it  is  more  Christian  to  obey  the  plain  commands 
of  God,  by  doing  the  duties  of  to-day,  and  so  being 
prepared  for  those  of  to-morrow  and  each  day  through 
life,  which  is  the  best  approach  to  a  more  reasonable 
and  hopeful  future.'  k  That  is  my  religion,'  said  the 
old  gentleman.  '  I  think  if  we  practice  it,  it  will  be 
well  with  us  now  and  forever;  much  better  than  wor- 
rying ourselves  and  others  in  getting  ready  to  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  the  Heavenly  Father  hereafter.  Jesus 
taught  us  to  pray  for  our  daily  bread  and  to  be  deliv- 
ered from  evil.  Is  our  Dominie  better  or  wiser  than 
He? '     This  ended  the  matter  of  our  conversation. 

"  It  was  a  short  time  after  this,  of  a  Sunday  after- 
noon, my  host  invited  me  to  go  and  hear  a  Methodist, 
and  a  real  ranter  he  was.  He  labored  very  hard  to 
frighten  his  hearers,  describing  hell  as  a  place  of  literal 
fire  and  brimstone.  He  said  If  you  could  put  your  ears 
to  the  windows  of  hell  you  would  hear  sinners,  and 
among  them  some  of  your  dear  friends,  probably, 
screeching  in  infinite  agonies,  lamenting  that  they  are 
not  having  the  same  opportunities  you  are  privileged 
with,  to  repent  and  get  religion;  warning  his  hearers 
to  do  so,  and  to  save  their  souls  before  it  was  everlast- 
ingly too  late ;  and  much  of  the  same  sort.  Going 
home,  the  good  man  said  :  '  He  gave  it  to  us  pretty  hot 
to-day.  AVhen  I  hear  such  things  I  wonder  why  the 
good  Lord  keeps  these  souls  alive,  and  these  fires  burn- 
ing for  the  mere  sake  of  torturing  them,  as  it  can  do 
Him  nor  no  one  else  any  good.  I  think  pure  religion 
has  more  to  do  with  daily  duties,  love  to  God  and  love 
to  men,  even  to  our  enemies,  serving  one  another, 
and  thus  fulfilling  the  royal  command  of  doing  as  we 
would  be  done  by.' 

"  At  home  he  described  the  sermon,  and  discussed 
the  matter  with  his  wife,  much  to  my  satisfaction,  if 
not  to  hers.  He  was  a  man  of  good,  practical  common 
sense,  plain,  honest  and  benevolent,  in  nothing  vain  or 
pretentious.  My  weeks  there  were  full  of  practical 
instruction,  by  which  I  was  greatly  profited." 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  69 

Mr.  Balch  has  told  us  that  of  the  errors  which  per- 
plexed and  darkened  his  young  mind,  the  first  and  worst 
of  which  was  the  perversion  of  both  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  and  the  bold  contradiction 
of  reason  and  experience  by  those  who  profess  to  ac- 
cept and  defend  the  truths  of  religion,  viz.,  that  sin  in 
the  present  brings  more  happiness  than  holiness  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  the  wicked  are  blessed  beyond  that  of  the 
righteous.  He  declares  most  emphatically  that  this 
was  the  sentiment  taught  as  an  essential  truth  of  a 
saving  faith,  and  that  it  was  predicated  on  the  neces- 
sity of  a  future  judgment  and  retribution  in  the  eternal 
world,  where  we  are  to  look  for  the  rectification  of  the 
mistakes  of  this  world  and  the  complete  reversal  of  the 
plan  of  administering  of  the  divine  government  as  at 
present.  He  was  reminded  of  many  positive  declara- 
tions of  Scripture  to  the  effect  that  u  God  will  by  no 
means  clear  the  guilty,"  but  "  will  render  to  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds;''  that  "he  that  doeth  wrong 
shall  receive  for  the  wrong  which  he  hath  done,  and 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons;"  so  that  "though  hand 
join  in  hand  the  wicked  shall  not  be  unpunished."  He 
could  recall  passage  after  passage,  such  as  "  Verily  he 
is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth,''  that  "His  judg- 
ments are  abroad  in  the  earth,''  and  that  "the  righteous 
shall  be  recompensed  in  the  earth,  much  more  the 
wicked  and  the  sinner.*'  He  was  coining  to  think  that 
for  all  who  obeyed  there  were  rewards,  and  all  who 
disobeyed  there  were  punishments  ;  results  which  inev- 
itably followed  as  effect  followed  cause.  It  seemed  to 
him  that  the  order  of  God's  government  was  this  order 
of  indissoluble,  eternal  and  connected  causes,  and  from 


70  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

the  operation  of  it  there  could  be  no  escape.  In  this 
was  seen  the  essence  of  duty,  making  it  consist  in  obe- 
dience to  the  natural,  healthful  and  God-established 
relations  and  necessities  of  our  being,  in  works  of  piety 
and  benevolence,  or  in  loving  God  and  man.  That 
which  we  were  forbidden  were  actions  and  excesses 
which  were  wrong,  and  that  which  it  was  commanded 
us  to  do  were  actions  which  were  right  and  proper,  and 
not  to  be  denied  by  us  save  to  the  wronging  of  our 
own  souls.  This  was  to  place  all  duty  on  a  natural 
basis,  or  to  found  it  in  nature  and  the  fitness  of  things. 
It  was  to  say  that  in  the  regulation  of  the  world  God 
had  established  certain  laws — pure,  perfect,  and  perma- 
nent rules — from  which  He  never  deviated  ;  laws  which 
regarded  the  best  happiness  of  His  children,  and  in  obe- 
dience to  which  we  always  find  peace  and  prosperity, 
but  when  we  violate  or  infringe  them,  disease  and  sor- 
row and  wretchedness  are  our  portion.  But  in  all  we 
mark  the  perfect  righteousness  of  God's  government, 
and  on  the  permanency  of  this  principle  rests  its  whole 
structure. 

Bro.  Balch  never  sought  to  be  nice  in  any  matters 
of  this  character,  in  a  speculative  way.  It  was  enough 
for  him  that  the  good  receive  good,  and  the  evil  evil ; 
so  that  a  man's  character  made  his  condition;  made 
his  heaven  said  his  hell.  We  can  not  do  wrong  and 
feel  right.  Punishment  always  follows  disobedience, 
and  there  never  can  be  anything  but  wretchedness  in  a 
sinful  course  of  conduct.  The  neglect  of  duty  would 
as  surely  be  punished  as  putting  our  hand  in  the  fire  is 
punished  ;  in  finding  ourselves  just  so  much  the  worse 
off  for  it.     Following-  in  this  train  of  thought,  and  seat- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  71 

ing  himself  to  a  careful  study  of  the  Scriptures  without 
note  or  comment,  seeking  no  other  man's  interpreta- 
tion, he  was  not  long  in  coming  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  was  no  disagreement  between  the  laws  of  God 
written  in  the  folds  of  nature  and  the  leaves  of  the 
Bible  as  regarding  this  one  subject  of  duty  and  inter- 
est. He  soon  found  that  nothing  could  be  stated 
plainer  than  that  u  there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked, 
that  they  are  like  the  troubled  sea  when  it  cannot 
rest,  whose  waters  continually  cast  up  mire  and  dirt ;  "" 
while  "  great  peace  have  they  that  love  God's  law,  and 
nothing  shall  offend  them  ; "  that  "  the  way  of  the 
transgressor  is  hard,  "  while  "  wisdom's  ways  are  ways 
of  pleasantness  and  all  her  paths  are  peace."  It  was 
from  this  that  the  appeal  was  made,  that  goodness  was. 
happiness,  and  therefore  we  should  do  good;  that 
nothing  is  ever  gained  by  sinning  ;  that  sin  is  the  worst 
thing,  the  hell  of  the  universe,  and  holiness  the  best 
thing,  the  heaven  of  God  and  eternity,  even  as  it  is. 
told  us  by  the  Preacher  in  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes 
that  "  Though  the  sinner  do  evil  an  hundred  timesr 
and  his  days  be  prolonged,  yet  surely  I  know  that  it 
shall  be  well  with  them  that  fear  God.  But  it  shall 
not  be  well  with  the  wicked  ;  neither  shall  he  prolong 
his  days,  which  are  as  a  shadow,  because  he  feareth  not 
God/ 

According  to  this  view  punishment  was  the  natural 
evil  consequence  of  our  wrong  or  sinful  doing,  which 
was  a  most  bitter  thing  in  the  experience  of  it ;  and  the 
purpose  of  Christ's  mission  was  to  save  us  from  sin  by 
saving  us  from  sinning.  Salvation  in  this  sense  was  not 
anything  purchased  for  us  by  another ;  nor  was  it  an 


'72  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

■escaping  from  hell  and  going  to  heaven  when  we 
die.  No  ;  it  was  character,  Christain  character ;  man 
hood  and  womanhood  perfected.  Jesus  does  not 
save  us  in  putting  forward  a  substitute  for  our  obedi- 
ence, but  in  leading  us  to  obey  the  law  of  God.  Men 
are  saved  just  as  far  as  they  accept  and  act  out  the 
Christ  spirit  or  principle  and  follow  the  teachings 
of  this  sublime  life  in  their  souls,  and  no  farther.  And 
grace  does  its  work  only  by  leading  to  voluntary  obedi- 
ence. Of  course  this  was  a  wholesome  and  salutary 
view,  that  sin  involves  punishment,  and  as  long  as  it 
-continues  punishment  will  necessarily  follow ;  and  that 
whenever  and  wherever  men  become  holy,  reconciled 
to  God  and  to  duty,  they  will  be  happy,  and  not  before. 
Believing  this  sincerely,  we  should  no  more  rush  into 
sin  than  we  should  rush  into  the  fire.  Brother  Balch 
speaks  of  this  as  one  of  the  strong  incentives  to  virtue, 
and  wishes  that  it  may  always  be  understood  that  we 
are  required  to  live  virtuously  in  order  that  we  may 
live  happily.  His  adorning  of  virtue  was  always  in  a 
light  that  made  it  a  great  blessing  to  be  achieved  for 
the  individual  welfare,  and,  viewing  it  from  his  stand- 
point, 

"  It  was  as  easj^  then  for  the  heart  to  be  true, 
As  for  grass  to  be  green,  or  skies  to  be  blue. 
It  was  the  natural  way  ^f  living." 

As  yet  Brother  Balch  had  constructed  no  creed  for 
himself,  to  which  he  had  thought  to  surrender  his  con- 
victions to  the  exclusion  of  anything  new  that  might 
seek  to  come  in  from  without  and  to  claim  his  hospi 
tality.     But  finding  an  organization  entertaining  views 


BEV.  WILLIAM    BTEVENS   BAXCH.  73 

so  much  like  his  own,  the  question  naturally  arose  in 
his  mind,  should  he  not  join  his  interest  with  theirs 
and  receive  from  them  what  assistance  and  sympathy, 
and  fellowship  they  could  give  him  ? 

It  was  here  in  Xew  York  in  1826,  listening  to  dif- 
ferent preachers  of  our  faith,  and  while  occupied  in 
teaching,  that  he  received  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
from  Eev.  Abner  Kneeland,  and  was  admitted  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Universalist  Church,  of  which  he  was  pastor 
at  the  time.  It  was  not  till  the  next  year  that  he  received 
the  rite  of  baptism  by  immers'.on,  at  the  hands  of  Bro. 
Warren  Skinner,  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  at 
Cavendish,  Yt.  It  is  no  light  thing  for  a  young  man 
to  break  away  from  the  theological  principles  to 
which  he  has  tacitly  subscribed,  and  which  he  has 
learned  to  regard  as  sacred  from  his  church  association 
during  his  whole  early  life.  Having  a  mind  and  char- 
acter of  his  own,  marked  by  courage  and  decision,  it 
was  but  natural,  perhaps,  that  he  should  come  to  con- 
clusions very  different  from  those  that  were  entertained 
by  many  of  his  friends.  We  can  be  sure  that  he  was 
one  who  took  great  pleasure  in  the  investigation  of 
truth,  and,  finding  it,  he  embraced  it  with  the  full 
ardor  of  his  nature.  And  being  no  slave  to  mistaken 
dogmas,  he  accepted  like  an  honest  man  what  his  reason 
approved.  The  person  who  can  thus  think  for  himself, 
and  has  the  courage  to  do  it,  who  feels  that  necessity 
is  laid  upon  him  to  go  wherever  truth  shall  lead,  is 
greatly  to  be  commended. 

He  was  now  to  return  to  school  duties  and  engaged 
at  twenty-one  to  continue  teaching  a  year  for  $150. 
But  in  less  than  a  month  a  schoolmate  came  to  the 


74  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

city  seeking  a  situation,  and  Bro.  Balch  offered  him 
his  place  if  he  would  lend  him  twenty -five  dollars 
for  three  years,  the  first  without  interest  and  the 
remaining  two  with  interest  at  six  per  cent.,  providing 
his  employer  would  agree  to  it.  The  offer  was  accepted 
and  was  satisfactory  all  around.  With  that  sum  he  pro- 
cured his  first  outfit  and  started  out  as  a  lecturer  on 
laim*uao-e  by  the  recommendation  of  Daniel  EL  Barnes, 
the  founder  of  the  high-school  system,  and  W.  S.  Car- 
dell,  the  author  of  a  new  system  of  grammar.  His 
first  attempt  was  in  Poughkeepsie,  and  very  successful ; 
he  realizing  enough  to  take  up  his  note  and  leave  him 
with  means  to  help  himself  on  his  way,  besides  a  very 
flattering  recommendation  from  the  chief  men 
of  the  place.  In  Hudson,  Greenbush,  Albany  and  Troy, 
he  met  with  good  success.  In  Troy  he  had  a  very  large 
class  engaged,  and  was  giving  private  lessons  to  a  Mrs. 
Willard,  of  the  female  academy,  when  sickness  made 
him  abandon  this  employment  sooner  than  he  would 
have  otherwise  done. 

In  alluding  to  this  afterward,  he  says:  "It  seemed 
to  me  an  open  door  into  manhood  life.  It  overcame  in 
part  my  natural  bash  fulness,  and  made  me  conscious  of 
a  responsibility  resting  upon  me  to  pursue  an  honest 
and  humble  endeavor  to  deserve  the  confidence  of  those 
among  whom  my  lot  should  be  cast,  and  employ  what 
talent  I  had  in  making  myself  useful  to  my  fellow  men. 
I  have  always  had  to  regret  my  preparation  being  so 
small,  and  yet  all  I  could  afford.  Except  a  fitting  for 
college,  which  after  all  I  had  not  the  means  to  enter, 
my  studies  had  been  chiefly  pursued  alone,  much  the 
larger  part  before  and  after  the  hours  of  school  from 


REV.  WILLIAM    8TEVEN8    BALCH.  JO 

four  to  eight  a.  m.,  and  four  to  ten  and  a  half  p.  it,  and 
Saturdays,  shut  up  in  my  little  room." 

He  stops  to  tell  us  how  he  had  entered  life  "with- 
out so  much  as  one  cent  of  money,  or  a  decent  sun  of 
clothing;"  but  as  he  left  New  York  in  this  lecturing 
tour  he  was  resolvod  as  soon  as  able  to  enter  the  minis- 
try: for  his  heart  was  on  fire  for  the  love  of  the  Dni- 
versalist  faith.  He  assures  us  that  the  wilderness  before 
him  had  seemed  ;'  dark  and  almost  impenetrable." 
But  he  entered  it  now  "  with  a  stout  heart  and  reliant 
upon  God."  He  would  not  relate  all  his  "trials  and 
misgivings,  sometimes  almost  yielding  to  despair." 
Xow  the  ministry  was  impressed  upon  his  mind  as  the 
plainest  and  most  direct  course  for  him  to  follow.  His 
experience  had  convinced  him  that  there  was  •• 
of  plain  instruction  in  various  departments  of  common 
life:"  and  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  "religion 
practically  presented  was  the  most  needful  of  them  all.  It 
laid  the  basis  of  all  right  living,  and.  properly  understood 
and  faithfully  followed,  led  to  the  best  success  and  truest 
happiness  which  God  had  designed  for  His  children.  " 
Under  this  conviction  fully  matured,  he  resolved  to 
begin  at  once  a  more  thorough  preparation  for  the 
work.  It  seemed  to  him  "  the  truest  avenue  in  which 
he  could  be  of  service  to  his  fellow  men."  And  so 
after  returning  to  his  home,  and  remaining  only  a 
couple  of  weeks,  he  started  on  foot  for  Reading  with 
the  few  books  he  had  managed  to  collect,  to  prosecute 
his  studies  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Loveland. 

I  have  but  little  doubt  that  the  father  thought  of 
making  a  Universalist  minister  of  his  son  long  ere  this, 
and  before  the  son  had  conceived  any  such  purpoe 


76  THE   LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

it  will  be  recollected  that  he  had  sent  him  away  from 
his  home  at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  go  and  pursue  his 
studies  with  this  same  Mr.  Loveland,  a  plan  which  was 
defeated  by  the  son  engaging  himself  as  teacher  in  the 
public  schools,  and  afterward  of  a  new  system  of 
grammar,  in  which  he  became  so  deeply  interested  as 
to  publish  books  of  his  own  upon  the  subject. 

Bro.  Balch  tells  of  having  pursued  his  studies  in 
company  with  Otis  A.  Skinner  at  this  time  for  the 
space  of  only  three  months,  at  which  time  his  money 
had  been  exhausted,  and  at  the  advice  of  Bro.  Warren 
Skinner,  and  his  invitation,  he  took  a  seat  m  his 
wagon  and  they  went  on  a  preaching  tour  to  Saratoga, 
Bro.  Skinner  doing  the  preaching,  he  tells  us.  It  was 
here  that  Bro.  Warren  Skinner  applied  for  fellowship 
in  his  behalf,  and  it  was  granted  September  20,  1827. 
We  have  his  description  of  this  in  the  following  lan- 
guage :  "  I  was  compelled  to  pass  a  rigid,  and  I 
thought  a  needlessly  severe,  examination,  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  convention,  of  which  Kev.  Paul  Dean 
was  chairman.  A  spirit  of  sectarianism  was  at  work 
in  the  denomination  at  that  time  on  matters  of  doc- 
trine, made  more  intense  by  another  spirit,  which  had 
alienated  some  of  the  brethren.  On  the  regular  sub- 
jects I  felt  quite  assured  ;  but  when  it  came  to  Trinity, 
Pre-existence,  Future  Punishment,  Divine  Sovereignty,' 
Free-will,  Bodily  Kesurrection,  and  some  other  sub- 
jects, presented  metaphysically,  and  with  a  manifest 
feeling  that  did  not  belong  there,  I  stumbled,  and 
deemed  1113^  case  hopeless,  till  Bro.  Sebastian  Streeter 
came  to  my  relief,  declaring  that  it  was  wrong  to  pur- 
sue such   a  course  in  reference  to  matters  that   had 


REV.  WILLIAM    BTEVEN8    BALCH.  77 

always  been  in  controversy,  and  never  had   been  set- 

tledbythe  wisest  of  heads.  'Why,5  it  was  asked.  -d<> 
you  bother  the  young  brother  with  questions  thai  you, 

nor  I,  nor  anybody  else  can  answer?  It'  he  wants  to 
preach  why  not  let  him  try  \  He  seems  to  be  as  well 
qualified  as  we  were. '  "  lie  was  fellowshiped,  and 
was  glad  to  get  through  with  such  an  ordeal. 

He  tells  us  of  having  preached  four  sermons  pre- 
vious to  this  time.  Hisfirstwas  in  the  study  of  Father 
Loveland  to  twelve  of  his  associates  from  the  text. 
"The  Spirit  made  me  go  with  them,  nothing  doubting." 
His  first  public  sermon  was  given  at  Lempster,  X.  II.. 
the  text.  "  Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every 
mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought  low,  and  the  crooked 
shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  smooth ; 
and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all 
flesh  shall  see  it  together."  He,  it  seems,  was  for  bring- 
ing everything  to  a  level.  Being  once  told  that  such 
was  the  case,  that  his  was  the  leveling  spirit,  his  reply 
was  that  he  leveled  up  as  well  as  down.  He  sought 
first  for  the  elevation,  and  then  for  the  equalization  of 
sunken  and  sorrowful  humanity.  He  had  no  higher 
purpose  than  to  unite  all  men  as  brethren,  and  to  league 
all  in  effort  for  the  elevation  of  all. 

He  walked  on  foot  thirty-nine  miles  to  preach  this 
sermon.  His  pecuniary  resources  were  so  scanty  at  the 
time  that  he  started  off  in  September  without  any  over- 
coat, and  with  but  $5  in  his  pocket.  Much  of  his 
preaching  for  the  time  was  for  $5  a  Sunday,  and  he 
felt  well  paid,  if  he  could  only  get  an  audience  to  hear 
him. 

6 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 

CHARACTER    AS   A   PREACHER. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Balch  as  a  preacher,  let  me  say 
as  a  first  requisite  that  the  work  of  the  ministry  con- 
stituted his  chief  delight,  and  was  the  leading  purpose 
of  his  life,  to  which  his  whole  soul  was  given.  From 
the  time  he  made  the  choice  of  it  to  the  time  of  his 
death  he  became  fully  consecrated  to  its  service,  never 
allowing  outside  business  or  personal  ambition  to  inter- 
fere with  the  main  object  to  which  he  sought  to  devote 
himself.  If  other  matters  engaged  a  portion  of  his 
time,  yet  none  inconsistent  with  this,  or  to  be  made 
secondary  to  it  for  a  moment.  Every  high  and  worthy 
cause  awakened  his  interest  and  received  some  share 
of  his  attention,  but  never  to  the  forgetfulness  of  his 
calling  or  the  neglect  of  one  of  its  duties.  Peace,  tem- 
perance, freedom,  education,  he  spoke  and  wrote  and 
labored  for  them,  but  no  one  ever  identified  him  with 
either  of  these,  or  supposed  him  to  forget  the  character 
or  office  of  the  Christian  ministry.  In  talking,  in  read- 
ing, in  journeying,  in  health  and  sickness,  in  labor  and 
rest,  his  heart  seemed  ever  to  turn  to  it,  and  he  could 
say,  as  did  an  apostle,  "  This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting 
the  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  to 
those  which  are  before.  I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
If  this  same  apostle  could  say,  "  I  am  determined  to 

78 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  79 

know  nothing  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him 
crucified,"  so  Brother  Balch  could  say,  I  am  deter- 
mined to  know  nothing  among  you  save  my  preaching, 

and  the  application  of  it  to  the  sins  and  sufferings  of 
the  world,  and  the  promotion  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness among  men. 

He  tells  us  himself  that  "from  the  time  he  entered 
the  ministry  he  had  given  himself  to  it  as  to  the  first 
and  chiefest  of  all  duties.  He  had  never  neglected 
intentionally  any  obligation  of  the  gospel  in  his  power 
to  perform,  for  secular  business,  or  personal  ease  or 
gratification."  Everything  else  he  had  made  subsidiary 
to  that  one  thought,  "  to  serve  the  Lord  by  doing  good 
to  mankind."  as  his  language  is.  After  having  preached 
fifty  years  we  have  these  words  from  him:  "I  have 
ever  felt  that  I  was  not  my  own,  but  the  servant  of 
Him  who  put  me  into  the  ministry.  I  have  had  many 
tempting  offers,  which  gave  almost  certain  promise  of 
worldly  wealth  and  positions  which  men  call  honorable, 
but  I  have  preferred  the  motto  of  my  life  :  4  Shoemaker, 
stick  to  your  last/  Hence  I  have  kept  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  and  in  it  outlived  by  several  years,  as  a 
settled  pastor,  all  who  entered  it  with  me,  and  many 
who  came  into  it  several  years  later.  I  love  it  still  as 
ardently  as  ever,  and  see  as  much  need  of  its  active 
and  energetic  operation  as  in  years  gone  by  :  even  more 
urgent,  as  sectarian  walls  are  crumbling  fast  away,  and 
new  and  purer  crystallizations  are  forming  around 
grander  truths,  sublimer  hopes,  and  broader  charities." 

None  will  deny,  who  ever  heard  Mr.  Balch  preach, 
that  his  whole  heart  was  in  his  preaching.  If  he  has 
gone  abroad,  it  has  been  to  lit  himself  tor  the  1 


80  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

duty  of  proclaiming  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ, 
and  for  the  sake  of  being  more  efficient  in  this,  his  one 
calling.  If  he  has  given  lectures  on  his  return,  it  has 
been  with  a  view  to  the  same  end — of  making  it  help- 
ful to  him  in  his  preaching.  He  has  gone  to  gain  val- 
uable lessons  from  the  country  and  people  and  institu- 
tions where  the  feet  of  the  Savior  had  trod,  and  not,  as 
so  many  had  gone,  for  the  mere  pleasure  or  name  of 
having  been  abroad.  He  could  hardly  stand  before  an 
audience  to  speak  upon  the  most  common  subject  with- 
out doing  more  or  less  of  preaching  in  some  portions  of 
it.  He  could  not  write  you  a  letter  or  engage  you  in 
conversation  for  a  half  hour  but  you  felt,  before  he 
reached  the  end  of  it,  that  he  had  preached  you  quite  a 
sermon.  Everything  with  him  was  made  to  bear  upon 
the  improvement  of  the  people's  morals  or  religion. 

And  then  again  it  is  to  be  observed  that  Bro.  Balch 
preached  sermons — he  did  not  preach  essays.  You 
never  found  him  delivering  mere  philosophical  disqui- 
sitions from  the  pulpit,  as  so  many  do.  He  may  have 
written  and  delivered  essays,  sometimes,  but  this  he 
did  not  consider  was  his  calling  or  avocation.  His  were 
always  sermons,  for  he  preached  the  truth  of  God  in 
such  a  way  that  it  was  made  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
men's  sins.  He  did  not  deal  with  truth  as  alone,  but 
with  truth  as  it  affected  duty. 

Many  persons  have  never  learned  to  distinguish 
properly  between  what  is  a  sermon  and  what  a.  lecture, 
a  speech  or  essay.  There  is  at  least  this  difference  : 
The  one  is  concerned  more  with  the  exposition  of  the 
subject  in  hand ;  the  other  with  the  treatment  of  it  in 
reference  to  its  application  to  conduct.     A  sermon  has 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALOH.  81 

intimate  relations  with  character.     It  does  nol  partake 

of  the  nature  of  a  speech,  or,  if  so,  it  is  a  religious  speech, 
spoken  by  a  religions  man,  who  is  seeking  to  promote 
religion  in  others.  There  may  be  such  a  thing  as  a 
decorous  handling  of  the  great  subjects  of  religion 
which  is  no  preaching  at  all,  because  more  intellectual 
than  religious  or  moral,  and  because  engaged  in  for 
the  entertainment  of  the  hearer,  much  more  than  to 
persuade  and  influence  to  the  doing  of  good.  With 
Bro.  Balch,  however,  there  was  always  the  faithful 
speaking,  and  reasoning,  and  entreating  for  the  essen- 
tial rights  and  duties  of  humanity,  in  the  application 
of  Christian  principles  to  the  wrongs  and  evils  and  sins 
of  the  world. 

I  risk  the  statement  that  he  has  done  more  earnest 
work  in  preaching  in  a  direct,  plain,  simple,  common- 
sense  way  that  was  calculated  to  reach  men's  hearts 
and  homes,  and  purify  and  sweeten  their  daily  lives, 
without  being  a  dealer  in  men's  endless  distinctions  and 
speculations;  and  that  he  has  converted  more  persons 
to  the  great  truths  of  Universalism,  and  worn  off  more 
prejudice  against  our  blessed  views  than  any  other  per- 
son  living  or  dead  in  the  Universalist  ministry,  if  I 
may  except,  perhaps.  Father  Ballou.  With  no  sys- 
tems of  metaphysical  theology,  and  no  coldly  elegant 
moral  essays  did  he  occupy  the  minds  of  his  hearers; 
but  with  highest  duties  pressed  urgently  home  upon 
all  as  rules  of  practices.  He  made  everyone  sec  and 
feel  that  a  genuine,  upright,  holy  life  was  the  one  most 
needful  thing.  It  will  not  be  said  thai  he  ever  sought 
to  imbue  men's  minds  with  particular  views  and  senti- 
ments respecting  this  or  that  entanglement  or  perplex- 
ity; <>r  to  cause   any  number  of  speculative  opinions. 


82  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

termed  articles  of  faith  to  be  received.  Xo — good 
principles  he  insisted  upon,  and  fundamental  doctrines 
he  preached  ;  but  with  the  abstractness  of  theology  as 
is  at  present,  and  has  been  for  many  centuries  in  con- 
troversy, he  had  very  little  if  anything  to  do.  To  him 
the  general  duties  of  men  were  plain  and  palpable. 
They  were  such  as  result  from  what  are  the  known  de- 
pendence and  wants  of  humanity,  and  a  desire  to  ben- 
efit, and  make  the  race  of  mankind  loving  and  happy. 
And  he  felt  that  he  was  deserving  of  praise,  and  was 
laying  others  under  obligation  to  him,  so  far  as  he  pro- 
mulgated a  true  idea  of  life ;  an  idea  of  life  as  it  ought 
to  be,  and  was  designed  of  God  to  be,  and  was  instru- 
mental in  the  establishment  of  a  practical  goodness  in  all 
its  purity  and  excellence  in  the  earth.  All  his  teaching 
was  to  the  effect  that  God  was  to  be  loved  and  wor- 
shiped by  us  only  in  the  exercise  of  affection,  and  in 
just  and  kindly  offices  performed  out  of  regard  to  our 
fellowmen. 

He  held  that  the  great  fundamental  principles  of 
Christianity,  its  essential  teachings,  were  all  of  the 
simplest  character,  and  not  of  any  dogmatical  import ; 
that  they  were  those  great  regenerative  principles  of 
truth  and  love,  and  of  a  conservative  power  and  influ- 
ence by  which  the  world  was  to  be  saved  and  blessed, 
and  mankind  made  Christians  indeed.  He  esteemed 
all  metaphysical  questions  as  foreign  to  the  purpose  of 
the  Gospel,  and  accordingly  his  preaching  was  level  to 
the  capacities,  and  met  and  satisfied  the  wants  of  the 
humble  and  unlettered.  It  was  this  that  gave  him 
such  access  to  the  commonest  minds,  which  constitute 
the  greatest  share  of  our  churches  and  congregations. 


REV.  WILLIAM    BTEVENfl    BALCH.  B3 

His  was  exactly  the  kind  of  religion  which  the  people 
needed;  not  intricate,  but  within  the  easy  comprehen- 
sion of  every  one,  and  consequently  the  people  were 
enthusiastic  in  listening  to  him.  Ee  could  preach 
great,  grand,  glorious  truths  in  a  way  that  the  com- 
mon people,  the  uncultivated,  heard  him  gladly,  and 
wondered  at  the  gracious  words  that  proceeded  out  of 
his  mouth.  His  power  lay,  as  much  as  in  anything,  in 
the  full  sympathy  of  the  people  to  whom  he  preached, 
and  they  listened  the  more  attentively  because  he  was 
one  of  them  in  education  and  position,  and  never  dis- 
owned his  condition,  or  was  ashamed  of  it,  and  be- 
cause at  the  same  time  he  made  every  one  feel  that  their 
fraternity  was  honored  and  exalted  bv  his  beloncnno-  to 
it.  You  find  him  always  identifying  himself  with  the 
lowly  condition  in  which  the  masses  of  mankind  are 
born.  As  he  went  among  the  people  he  went  as  a 
friend,  and  so  was  received  as  a  friend. 

He  himself  tells  us  of  having  been  charged  by 
Father  Ballou,  standing  in  a  pulpit  at  AYatertown, 
Mass.,  to  be  "simple  in  his  preaching,  preach  so  that 
children  can  understand  you,  and  then  the  old  folks 
can."  And  in  his  reflection  upon  what  is  here  said,  he 
remarks  :  "  It  is  not  the  glitter  of  fine  essays,  rounded 
periods,  and  studied  postulations  that  is  needed.  The 
church  is  cursed  with  too  much  of  that  stuff — chaff,  in 
which  occasional  grains  of  wheat  are  found.  The 
preacher  of  to  day  needs  good,  scpiare  common  sense, 
a  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  and  experience  in  the 
real  more  than  in  the  fashionable  world  ;  a  heart  full 
of  zeal  for  God,  truth,  purity  and  humanity  :  an  apt- 
ness to  teach  plainly  and  practically  what  he  knows  ;  to 


84  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

meet  and  mingle  with  the  lowly,  and  help  them  to  rise 
from  their  low  estate  ;  and  to  show  a  humble,  sincere, 
devoted  demeanor,  that  'his  good  be  not  evil  spoken 
of.'  He  need  not  dogmatize  when  he  preaches,  nor 
need  he  fail  to  produce  in  the  mind  of  the  hearer  a  pro- 
found conviction  that  the  chief  object  had  in  view  is 
the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  humanity,  and  the 
people's  welfare  and  happiness." 

And  it  was  this  that  made  him  effective  for  doing 
the  will  of  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  commended  him 
to  so  many  of  his  brethren.     He  continues  to  tell  us: 

"  In  prosecuting  this  work,  the  controlling  thought 
and  purpose  of  mj  soul  has  been  to  present  truth 
plainly  and  practically  before  the  people ;  to  avoid  all 
metaphysical,  dogmatical  and  philosophical  questions, 
the  discussion  of  which  would  not  convince  and  edify 
my  hearers.  I  have  never  shunned  to  preach  or 
to  do  what  I  thought  practically  important,  nor  al- 
lowed personal  feeling  or  party  attachments,  the  fear 
or  favor  of  anybody  to  swerve  me  from  my  convictions 
of  what  was  true  and  right  and  suitable  to  the  minis- 
try of  Jesus.  In  many  things  I  have  erred  in  judg- 
ment, as  I  afterward  saw,  and  have  come  short  in 
many  more,  but  I  never  intended  to  flatter,  fawn,  sup- 
pliantly  obey  or  purposely  offend.  In  the  rapidity  of 
extemporaneous  speaking  I  may  have  said  many  things 
and  in  many  ways  which  a  more  calm  and  deliberate 
preparation  would  have  avoided.  But  I  have  tried  to 
keep  my  heart  to  meditate  no  evil,  and  therefore  to 
risk  less  in  such  cases  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  more 
studied  and  fastidious  style  would  have  won  more  ad- 
mirers, but  I  doubt  if  it  would  have  reached  more 
hearts.  In  a  play-house  where  amusement  is  the  chief 
aim  it  may  be  appropriate  to  ascribe  prominently,  'We 
study  to  please,'  but  never  in  a  Christian  pulpit.  To  make 
plain  the  path  of  duty,  to  convince  of  sin   and  show 


REV.   WILLIAM    BTEA  ENfi    BALOH. 

how  to  shun  it,  to  guide  the  young,  counsel  the  erring, 
comfort  the  afflicted,  and  persuade  to  th< 
faith,  hope  and  charily,  are  the  higher  aims  to  n 
I  have  aspired,  and  sought  ( rod's  help  to  achieve 

And  most  surely  this  has  been 

And  Mr.  Balch  was  a  great  preacher,  if  to  be  i 
mated  by  the  eminent  services  he  has  rendered  in 
behalf  of  our  Zion  or  the  cause  of  righteousness 
among  men.  He  was  a  great  preacher,  I 
great  teacher.  He  not  only  occupied  a  high  rank, 
but  he  stood  in  the  foremost  rank  of  Large  num- 
bers which  were  acknowledged  to  be  great.  1  do 
not  know  why  he  was  not  intellectually  great.  I  am 
not  meaning  that  he  was  so  very  learned  a  Bcholar, 
with  a  mind  developed  and  disciplined  by  severe  train- 
ing, enlarged  and  enriched  by  varied  culture  in  all  the 
multiplied  departments  of  human  thought  and  study. 
He  never  claimed  to  be  learned  in  the  technical  - 
But  his  was  no  common  order  of  talent,  lie  wras  richly 
endowed  by  native  and  acquired  gifts.  1 1  is  mind  was 
penetrating  and  comprehensive  in  its  grasp  and  dis- 
criminating in  its  judgments,  moving  rapidly  thn 
the  processes  of  thought,  and  with  a  quick  and  clear 
perception,  seeing  readily  the  resemblances  and  differ- 
ences of  things,  which  made  him  prominent  in  tin- 
walks  of  literary  and  professional  life.  There  was 
never  any  distrust  of  his  ability  to  gather  up  all  the 
principles  and  bearings  of  his  theme  into  one  compre- 
hensive view,  and  bring  the  whole  field  of  observation 
directly  under  the  eye  of  his  auditor.  Be  never  made 
you  feel  that  he  was  deficient  in  the  breadth  of  dis- 
cussion of  deepest  questions;  and  you  deemed  him  a 


86  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

master,  fitted  for  the  largeness  of  even  philosophical 
criticism. 

He  was  a  student  by  nature ;  and  if  his  sermons 
were  not  always  the  most  orderly,  they  were  rich  in 
earnest  thought  and  in  originality  of  conception.  There 
was  thought  written  all  over  every  one  of  his  features. 
There  are  but  few  who  will  not  allow  that  he  had 
great  strength  of  thought,  largeness  of  desire,  constant 
activity  of  mind,  which  enabled  him  to  multiply  the 
resources  of  his  later  years.  He  Avas  a  man  of  remark- 
able endowment  of  head  and  of  heart,  no  more  marked 
for  energy  of  character  than  for  vigor  of  intellect  or 
power  of  expression. 

I  recall  the  words  of  Dr.  Sawyer,  who  in  writing 
me  says,  "If  I  am  to  speak  of  him  intellectually,  I  must 
accord  him  great  abilities.  His  education  was  not 
obtained  in  any  college,  and  I  do  not  know  whether 
a  thorough  college  training  would  have  improved  him, 
or  rather  whether  he  would  have  submitted  to  it.  His 
perceptive  faculties  were  very  large,  and  he  gathered 
in  through  them  a  vast  amount  of  knowledge.  He 
had  such  stores  of  general  information  that  he  could 
not  talk  to  an  audience  without  saying  many  things  of 
interest  and  profit.  With  wholly  extemporaneous  ser- 
mons he  could  not  have  maintained  himself  for  seven- 
teen years  in  Xew  York  City,  without  having  had  a 
good  deal  of  genuine  preach  in  him."  After  stating 
this,  with  much  more,  he  is  pleased  to  add  ;  "This  I  am 
sure  is  a  very  imperfect  sketch  of  my  old  friend.  I 
know  him  well,  but  I  have  not  done  him  justice,  I 
fear." 

You  were  forever  made  conscious  in  listening  to 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  v  , 

him  of  greatest  depths  of  research,  that  opened  into 
vaster  fields  of  knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  which  car- 
ried your  conceptions,  if  not  your  aims,  far  above  your 
powers  of  execution. 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  men  who  have 
acquired  valuable  information  by  dint  of  their  own 
exertions  as  self-made  men,  and  this  was  true  of 
Brother  Balch,  only  as  God  made  him  ;  that  is,  He 
gave  him  the  sacred  instinct  of  thought,  and  the  thirst 
for  knowledge,  that  by  a  wise,  faithful  and  constant 
use  of  his  powers  he  should  be  successful,  as  much  as 
he  made  the  bee  to  extract  the  honey  from  the  flowers 
of  the  field.  If  success  was  a  thing  which  he  had  to 
work  out  for  himself,  yet  it  was  God  that  "  worked  in 
him  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure." 

A  very  marked  peculiarity  of  his  preaching  was  its 
intensely  practical  character.  "With  most  men  religion 
does  not  take  form  with  them  so  as  to  find  a  lodgment 
in  the  heart,  and  so  does  not  rise  to  the  dignity  and 
strength  of  what  religion  is  designed  to  afford.  It  is  a 
vague  hope  or  fear,  which  is  not  without  its  influence  ; 
but  not  fitted  to  guide,  or  too  feeble  to  become  con- 
trolling in  human  affairs,  to  rule  the  purposes  of  life, 
or  shape  its  ends.  The  larger  proportion  of  pulpit 
effort  has  had  but  little  relation  to  the  particular  needs 
of  the  people,  its  chief  aim  being  to  give  an  expose  of 
the  preachers'  system  of  divinity.  But  with  the  sub- 
ject of  our  narrative  religion  was  instinct  with  a  moral 
vitality  in  every  feature  of  it.  It  was  something  to 
work  in  the  individual  bosom,  and  in  society  at  large, 
and  to  improve  and  bless  all  those  who  were  serviceable 
in  the  active   duties  of   life.     He  preached  his  heart 


88  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

truths,  and  to  the  heart,  till  the  people  were  obliged  to 
accept  them,  in  the  love  of  them.  He  was  an  "  able 
minister  of  the  Xew  Testament ;  not  of  the  letter 
which  killeth  ;  but  of  the  spirit  which  giveth  life." 
If  he  preached  doctrine,  it  was  in  its  practical  phases. 
Who  ever  heard  him  preach  in  any  other  manner  I 
His  idea  was  to  preach  and  practice  the  Christian  ethics 
with  a  minimum  of  doctrine  andecclesiasticisms.  The 
faith  of  the  Christian  as  it  seemed  to  him  was  a  vital 
principle  of  action  ;  a  living  sentiment  of  the  heart 
and  affections,  that  always  went  hand  in  hand  with 
good  works.  There  might  be  professions  which  were 
a  mere  pretense,  and  any  amount  of  hypocrisy  might 
be  practiced.  There  might  be  self-delusion  ;  but  no 
true,  Christian  faith  that  did  not  prompt  to  good  works  ; 
that  did  not  manifest  itself  in  good  works. 

Such  a  thing  never  entered  Brother  Balch's  mind, 
as  the  separation  of  Christian  doctrine  from  Christian 
practice.  He  sought  rather  to  unite  them  in  the  closest 
bonds  of  attachment,  making  them  parts  of  a  complete 
whole,  each  essential  to  the  other.  A  niairs  principles 
were  what  he  did  :  not  what  he  said,  and  it  seemed  to 
him  that  he  only  believed  in  Christianity  who  lived  it. 
A  man  must  have  Christian  principles  :  and.  Laving 
these  enshrined  in  the  heart  and  affections  and  in- 
wrought in  the  living  soul,  he  would  act  upon  them; 
and  this  was  what,  to  his  thought,  made  any  man  a 
Christian.  Religion  was  precisely  this  active  principle 
of  love  to  God  and  man  in  the  soul,  to  be  made  to  act 
in  the  toil  of  life,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salva- 
tion of  his  children.  It  was  to  be  carried  out  and  ex- 
emplified in  the  conduct,  and  in   striving  against  the 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  89 

world's  evils,  and  for  the  world's  good.  And  for  this 
did  Mr.  Balch  prize  it.  lie  was  in  all  the  tendencies  of 
his  nature  and  principles  a  reformer,  a  helper  in  every 
good  cause,  in  every  prominent  charity,  in  every  lead- 
ing interest  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  The 
service  of  humanity  was  his  highest  aspiration. 

Always  a  reformer,  ]\Ir.  Balch  was  in  the  front  rank 
of  every  movement,  tongue,  pen  and  hand  ready  to 
relieve.  His  temperance  work  began  with  his  public 
life ;  and  later  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
\Yashingtonian  movement,  continuing  persistently  in 
his  warfare  against  this  great  foe  of  intemperance  till 
the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  temperate  in  all  things, 
even  to  abstemiousness.  You  could  sit  at  his  table,  and 
while  drinking  your  tea  and  coffee,  he  would  be  drink- 
ing nothing  but  water.  He  was  a  rank  hater  of  every 
evil,  and  never  failed  to  raise  his  powerful  voice  against 
public  or  private  wrong,  and  especially  upon  the  evil 
of  intemperance,  was  he  always  ready  to  talk  and  be- 
stow active  energy.  Listen  to  his  own  words  as  we 
find  him  uttering  them  in  1878.  "  Into  the  temperance 
cause  I  entered  fifty  years  ago,  on  the  ground  of  strict 
total  abstinence  from  all  that  intoxicates,  including 
tobacco,  and  I  have  worked  in  it  ever  since.  In  the 
various  humanities  I  have  taken  part ;  such  as  moral 
reform,  prison  discipline,  anti-gallows,  and  aid  to  the 
poor  and  oppressed  of  every  name  and  clime."  He 
showed  a  brotherly  interest  in  every  kind  of  work  that 
needed  the  heart  of  true  sympathy,  and  did  not  shrink 
from  bearing  solemn  witness  against  the  wrongs,  the 
injustice,  the  heart-breaks  and  miseries  of  his  fellow- 
men,  and  championing  the  cause  of  the  weak  and  de- 


90  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

fenceless  everywhere.  An  Abolitionist  of  the  early 
time,  he  was  a  personal  friend  of  Garrison,  Phillips, 
Whittier,  and  their  compeers ;  and  stood  valiantly  for 
the  victimized  sufferers  of  unutterable  wrong.  And 
thus  did  he  proclaim  abroad,  and  to  the  world,  the 
divine  method  by  which  we  are  to  win  our  battles 
against  the  strong  and  the  mighty  for  the  overthrow  of 
all  sin,  wretchedness  and  misery.  He  tells  us  that  he 
had  but  "  one  rule  and  purpose  by  which  he  was  gov- 
erned in  all  the  affairs  of  his  life.  It  was  to  adopt 
all  real  improvements,  and  fearlessly  maintain  them ; 
to  do  all  the  good  he  could,  and  as  little  harm  as  possi- 
ble, and  to  teach  that  in  purity  there  is  peace,  and  in 
holiness  there  is  happiness." 

And  what  could  be  grander  than  such  a  life,  lived 
out  in  all  the  relations  in  which  he  was  called  to  act 
toward  his  fellow  men  in  his  intercourse  with  the 
world  ?  What  could  be  said  more,  or  better,  than  that 
he  was  ready  always  to  resist  the  wrong,  and  to  main- 
tain the  right  at  all  hazards?  His  influence  was  al- 
wavs  on  the  side  of  the  right,  and  vou  never  found 
him  advocating  a  wrong  principle.  And  how  should  it 
be.  but  that  such  a  life  of  itself  alone,  without  any 
teaching  of  the  uttered  word,  should  speak  powerfully, 
and  should  be  a  priceless  legacy  to  the  world  \ 

But  when,  in  1S10,  Brother  Balch  preached  what  I 
will  call  his  great  sermon,  at  the  United  States  Con- 
vention of  Universalists,  holding  its  session  in  Auburn, 
X.  Y..  from  the  text  in  John's  Gospel,  Chapter  xiii, 
verse  35.  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are 
my  disciples,"  it  seemed  as  if  it  went  like  an  electric 
shock  all  over  this  broad  land.     Men  were  startled  at 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  91 

such  incisive  utterances  as  awoke  them  from  a  sort  of 
lethargy,  in  which  they  were  reposing,  and  being  held 
as  spell-bound  to  a  mere  mode  of  faith.  If  I  have 
heard  this  sermon  referred  to  once,  and  indeed  from 
the  lips  of  the  preacher  himself,  I  have  heard  it  twenty 
times  from  the  lips  of  others.  Persons  have  declared 
to  me  that  it  was  the  most  memorable  sermon  that 
ever  came  before  that  honorable  body.  It  was  this 
that  brought  Mr.  Balch  more  prominently  before  the 
world,  and  gave  him  that  wide-spread  popularity  which 
he  has  fairly  won  for  himself.  It  has  been  said  that  it 
secured  for  him  his  invitation  a  short  time  afterward 
to  preach  as  a  candidate  to  the  Bleeker  Street  Church, 
in  New  York  City.  But  along  with  that  invitation 
came  a  difficulty.  Mr.  Balch  had  never  preached  as  a 
candidate,  and  he  did  not  believe  in  being  placed  in 
rivalry  with  others  of  his  brethren  to  be  promoted  over 
them,  to  their  great  discomfort,  and  so  he  informed  them 
that  it  would  not  be  agreeable  for  him  to  visit  them  in 
the  manner  they  proposed.  And  now  what  was  to  be 
done  \  ^Yell,  if  he  could  not  come  in  their  manner, 
then  he  might  come  in  the  way  that  should  be  pleasur- 
able to  himself,  and  they  would  engage  to  settle  him 
without  his  being  heard  by  the  society  at  all. 

But  what  about  the  sermon  that  had  obtained  for 
him  all  this  astonishing  notoriety  ?  Understand  ,  he 
was  going  to  give  them  the  test  by  which  they  might 
know  Avhether  they  were  the  disciples  or  Christ  or  not; 
and  he  stopped  to  make  some  comments  first  on  the 
word  "know''  which  was  in  the  text.  "By  this  shall 
all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples."  It  was  not 
any  matter  of  guess-work,  or  mere  imagining;  but  of 


92  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

absolute  knowledge ;  when  from  a  right  experience  the 
reality  of  it  should  be  brought  home  to  their  hearts  ; 
as  when  "the  spirit  of  God  bears  witness  with  our 
spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of  God."  Then  as  he 
proceeded  with  his  subject,  it  was  to  tell  them  in  what 
manner  they  were  to  "know"  it.  And  he  was  very 
sure  that  it  was  not  by  the  adoption  of  any  credulous 
theory  that  left  the  whole  matter  in  a  still  deeper  mys- 
tery, that  no  one  was  able  to  tell  you  anything  about. 
Well  if  not  this,  was  it  from  believing  in  any  of  the 
man-made  creeds  of  the  day  ?  A  person  might  say  that 
he  believed  in  the  Trinity,  and  you  could  not  well 
doubt  his  doing  so ;  but  did  that  make  him  a  disciple  of 
Christ — or  a  Christian  ?  Another  might  tell  you  per- 
haps that  he  believed  in  Election  and  Reprobation  ;  or 
in  Total  Depravity ;  or  in  Endless  Misery ;  or  in  Uni- 
versal Salvation;  and  the  query  was  again,  did  that 
make  any  man  a  Christian  ?  "VVe  could  know  that  it 
did  not,  for  very  bad  men  had  not  unfrequently  be- 
lieved in  every  one  of  these  doctrines.  "  By  this  shall 
all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples."  By  what? 
He  here  brought  in  the  context,  which  he  had  kept 
back  for  a  purpose  until  now,  "  that  ye  have  love  one 
to  another ;"  and  asked  his  audience  to  take  particular 
notice  how  plain  and  reasonable  the  whole  matter  was 
to  the  simplest  understanding  of  even  a  child. 

A  person  listening  to  Mr.  Balch's  handling  of  this 
subject  upon  another  occasion,  at  a  subsequent  time, 
informs  me  that  he  had  so  adroitly  managed  the  devel- 
opment of  the  theme  till  he  was  ready  to  spring  the 
answer  upon  his  audience,  that  when  he  said,  "Now, 
see  how  simple   all  this   is,  as   Jesus  taught  it,  they 


REV.  WILLIAM    8TEVEN8     BALCH.  (J3 

were  literally  struck  with  amazement  and  delight,  so 
that  it  became  a  matter  of  marvellous  wonder  and  con- 
versation with  all  who  heard  it.  The  people  almost 
rose  from  their  seats  at  the  grandeur  of  the  annuncia- 
tion of  so  important  a  truth  as  that  the  loving-  and 
serving  of  our  fellow-men  is  to  be  the  test  of  disciple- 
ship."  That  single  sermon,  giving  such  remarkable 
prominence  to  the  practical  side  of  our  religion,  and 
the  work  which  Brother  Balch  has  done  through  a  long- 
life,  making  him  such  hosts  of  friends  and  such  a  favor- 
ite preacher  with  so  many,  have  done  more  than  we  can 
tell  to  shape  and  mould  the  thought  of  the  denomina- 
tion, and  to  put  jewels  in  his  crown  that  shall  shine  as 
lono:  as  there  shall  be  any  memory  of  the  order  to 
which  we  belong.  The  supreme  interest  of  the  life  of 
Brother  Balch  has  lain  in  the  fact  that  it  has  been  so 
much  ethical,  and  of  such  practical  utility  to  our  peo- 
ple, and  that  his  religion  has  been  made  to  embrace 
every  form  of  philanthrophy. 

It  is  truly  lamentable  how  much  of  our  time,  and 
of  every  time,  has  had  no  very  perceptible  relation 
to  human  salvation  and  improvement  ;  to  regeneration, 
or  to  any  human  interest  whatever.  There  are  those, 
the  whole  tendency  of  whose  efforts  is  to  make  the 
world  a  painful  desolation,  whereon  it  would  seem  as 
if  the  sun  might  refuse  to  shine.  Borne  up  by  the 
faith  of  the  gospel,  he  was  always  hopeful,  if  sometimes 
sadly  so,  keeping  faith  in  the  perfect  goodness  of  God 
through  all  changes  and  vicissitudes.  Most  people  are 
prone  to  grumble.  They  are  pessimists  in  practice  if 
not  in  principle ;  but  in  the  darkest  and  most  trying 
circumstances  he  believed  that  God  reigned,  and  that 

7 


94  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

the  world  moved  on  with  regularity,  for  which  we  ought 
to  be  grateful. 

It  is  true,  he  chided  himself  sometimes  with  being 
sedate ;  thought  he  was  too  much  so  for  a  man  of  the 
world,  and  that  his  profession  had  made  him  more  so. 
To  me  he  always  seemed  like  a  man  that  was  subdued 
beyond  all  gay  and  passionate  exuberance ;  a  man  that 
didn't  quite  know  how  to  laugh  in  a  natural  jolly  way, 
without  its  being  a  little  forced.  He  sometimes  wished, 
he  said,  that  he  could  "  get  out  of  such  a  habit,  and 
talk  and  laugh  at  nonsense,  seeing  no  evil,  no  wrong, 
no  misery  anywhere;"  but  then  he  tells  us  he  "was 
never  made  so,  and  had  never  been  converted  to  it." 

But  while  he  was  conscientious,  seeing  so  many  of 
the  evils  of  the  world,  and  taking  them  to  heart  to  be 
burdened  with  them,  yet  he  was  moderately  cheerful 
and  playful,  to  be  accounted  for  partly  by  what  he 
tells  us,  that  "experience  had  taught  him  to  think 
kindly  of  his  fellow  men,  and  that  the  longer  he  lived  the 
better  he  thought  of  their  hearts,  while  he  mght  think 
less  of  their  heads."  You  could  know  that  there  was 
something  of  humor  about  him,  though  not  a  humorist. 
It  is  told  by  Dr.  Sawyer  that  "he  was  preaching  one 
day,  and  repeating  the  remark  of  some  merchants, 
that  a  man  could  not  make  a  living  and  be  rigidly  honest; 
he  stopped  and  said  in  the  dry  est  kind  of  a  wa}T : 
"I  do  not  think  people  ought  to  say  such  a  thing  till 
they  have  tried  it."  It  will  be  agreed  that  Brother 
Balch  could  tell  a  good  story,  but  he  was  hardly  at 
home  with  a  story  in  the  pulpit,  and  never  with  a  witi- 
cism.  If  he  may  be  said  to  have  treasured  a  fund  of 
anecdote  from  being  blessed  with  a  retentive  memory, 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  95 

yet  he  always  considered  that  it  was  to  be  used  spar- 
ingingly.  and  barely  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  if 
needed  :  and  he  knew  how  to  adapt  his  stories  to  that 
end.  so  that  every  one  would  say  that  there  was  an  apt- 
ness about  them,  if  nothing  else.  If  not  chosen  with  a 
studied  refinement  they  were  never  of  an  exceptional 
character,  and  no  one  was  ever  left  to  feel  that  thev 
were  privileged  to  indulge  in  his  presence  in  any  im- 
proprieties of  speech.  I  recollect  my  telling  a  story  at 
one  time  in  a  Sunday  school  where  I  had  been  given  a 
class,  and  he  came  to  sit  in  it.  It  was  something  trans- 
piring in  my  boyhood  days.  I  was  going  by  the  canal 
through  a  part  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  and  we  came 
into  a  lock.  There  were  seated  out  on  one  side  of  the 
lock  two  men,  and  one  said  "  You  stole  my  wool." 
The  other  did  not  deny  it,  but  simply  retorted,  ;iI  did 
not  do  it  till  I  came  to  you.  and  went  to  others  to  get 
work  ;  and  it  was  not  given  to  me.  And  I  did  not  do  it 
then,  till  I  went  through  the  town  to  beg,  to  keep  my 
family  from  starving;  and  some  of  the  very  persons 
who  refused  me  work,  called  me  a  lazy  lout,  and  told 
me  to  go  to  work.  I  then  took  your  w^ool,  and  sold  it 
to  buy  bread  for  my  family/'  Just  then  the  noise  of 
the  water  disturbed  my  hearing  further ;  and  I  was  re- 
marking to  the  class  that  "  it  seemed  to  me  at  the 
time,  so  far  as  I  heard,  the  man  that  stole  the  wool 
had  the  best  of  the  argument  ";  when  Brother  Balch  ex- 
claimed "  Why,  Brother  Slade  !  "  I  always  deferred  to 
him.  and  whatever  else  I  might  have  said,  I  pursued 
the  subject  no  farther. 

Xo  one  ever  got  ahead  of  Brother  Balch.     He  was  as 
quick  to  answer,  and  as  ready  at  repartee  as  lie  was  to 


96  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

perceive  the  right  and  wrong  of  a  matter.  Professor 
Standish,  of  Lombard  University,  has  contributed  the 
following,  as  told  by  Brother  Balch  himself,  that  he 
was  at  one  time  desired  to  preach  at  a  State  Conven- 
tion in  Vermont  on  the  last  afternoon,  when  the  cars 
would  take  most  of  the  people  to  their  homes  at  an 
early  hour ;  and  lie  agreed  that  he  would  do  so,  if  they 
would  be  present  promptly  at  1  o'clock,  to  commence 
the  services.  He  did  not  fail  to  appear  at  the  time  ; 
but  as  yet  there  was  no  congregation  or  choir. 
Shortly,  however,  the  choir  presented  themselves,  and 
the  congregation  began  to  come  in  very  scattering^. 
Brother  Balch  did  not  wait  for  congregation  but  gave 
out  the  hymn  as  soon  as  there  was  anybody  to  sing ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  hymn  was  sung  he  offered  a  prayer. 
A  last  when  the  sermon  was  proceeding  in  a  very  sat- 
isfactory manner,  and  nearing  its  end,  one  of  the  cler- 
gymen, more  tardy  than  the  rest,  came  in  and  took  his 
seat  immediately  in  front  of  Brother  Balch  ;  and  lean- 
ing back  in  his  chair,  he  took  his  watch  from  his 
pocket  and  held  it  in  a  manner  that  his  attention  might 
be  attracted  to  it.  As  soon  as  it  was  brought  to  his 
notice,  he  stopped  short  and  remarked,  '  I  would  have 
the  brethren  understand,  that  I  am  not  preaching  for 
time,  but  for  eternity.'  " 

Dr.  Sawyer  writes  me  that  he  often  told  Brother 
Balch  that  if  he  wanted  to  get  his  best  sermon,  it 
would  be  on  some  very  important  public  occasion  when 
the  person  chosen  to  preach  would  fail  to  be  present. 
He  would  go  to  him  and  say,  "  Balch,  Smith  has  not 
come,  and  the  people  are  all  here  waiting,  and  you  must 
preach,"    and   that  put  him  upon  his  mettle,  and    he 


REV.  WILLIAM    BTEVEN8    BALCH.  97 

would  do  his  best.  But  this  confidence  in  his  ability 
would  sometimes  betray  him.  and  I  have  seen  him.  at 
some  conference  meeting  perhaps  it  would  be,  talk 
against  time,  but  he  would  go  on  until  he  caught  a 
thread  of  discourse,  ami  then  for  ten  or  twenty  min- 
utes rush  forward  like  an  orator  with  electric  effect. 

It  is  told  that  at  the  United  States  Convention  held 
at  Boston  in  1S45,  Brother  Chapin  was  to  preach  the 
occasional  discourse  at  the  School  Street  Church,  Father 
Balloivs.  and  there  were  a  great  many  more  people 
than  could  get  into  the  house;  when  Brother  Otis 
A.  Skinner  arose  and  said  that  Brother  Chapin  would 
repeat  his  sermon  from  that  same  pulpit  in  the  after- 
noon, and  begged  those  that  were  present  not  to  occupy 
the  seats,  that  others  might  have  a  chance  to  hear  it. 
Then  he  added  that  Brother  Balch  would  preach  at  his 
church  at  that  very  hour,  and  those  who  were  unable 
to  gain  an  entrance  there  would  repair  immediately  to 
the  AVarren  Street  Church,  for  he  knew  that  Brother 
Balch  was  always  ready  with  a  sermon  prepared  for 
any  occasion. 

This  recalls  a  circumstance  which  occurred  at  the 
time  of  my  own  ordination  in  1S42,  in  Pawtucket,  R. 
I.  The  occasion  was  one  of  more  than  usual  interest, 
for  it  was  the  meeting  of  the  State  Convention,  and 
their  new  church  was  to  be  dedicated ;  and  the  charge 
and  delivery  of  the  Scriptures  would  be  by  Father  Bal- 
lou.  There  had  been  a  church  before  this,  but  Jacob 
Frieze  was  the  preacher,  and  he  turned  infidel,  the 
consequence  of  which  was.  that  we  lost  our  church,  by 
its  going  out  of  our  hands  into  the  hands  of  the  Bap- 
tists.    The   very   great     crowd   of   people   that   were 


98  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

brought  together  made  it  necessary  to  seek  other 
quarters  for  preaching,  and  this  Baptist  Church  of  our 
own  erection  was  procured  for  Brother  Balch  to  preach 
in ;  he  taking  for  his  text  the  words  found  in  Haggai 
ii :  3.  "  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw  this  house  in 
its  first  glory  %  and  how  do  ye  see  it  now  ?  Is  it  not 
in  your  eyes  in  comparison  of  it  as  nothing?" 

Brother  Balch  was  always  prompt  in  meeting  all 
kinds  of  occasions,  and  sick  or  well  he  would  go  to  fulfil 
all  appointments.  In  those  days  he  was  sick  a  great  deal. 
At  one  time  he  was  to  go  to  a  place  called  Manville, 
fourteen  miles  north  of  Providence,  to  preach  of  an 
evening.  In  the  morning  he  came  down  from  his  room 
with  his  terrible  dyspepsia  that  destroyed  much  of  the 
comfort  of  his  life,  regretting  that  his  appointment  was 
out.  And  now  came  a  call  that  he  go  as  far  the  other 
way  and  attend  a  funeral  at  12  m.,  and  his  return 
would  be  not  directly  through  Providence,  but  b}^  the 
way  of  Pawtucket,  and  I  thought  it  would  give  pleas- 
ure to  Brother  Balch  if  I  would  go  out  to  Pawtucket 
and  go  with  him  to  his  evening  appointment,  and  ac- 
cordingly I  went.  Brother  Balch  was  very  glad  to  see 
me,  and  gave  me  to  understand  right  away  that  I 
must  drive  his  horse  for  him.  As  we  jogged  along,  he 
remarked  that  he  felt  wretchedly,  and  that  I  would 
have  to  do  the  preaching.  I  had  scarcely  preached  a 
sermon  then,  and  gave  him  to  understand  that  it  would 
not  do  at  all,  remarking  at  the  same  time  that  I  sup- 
posed they  would  think  that  "  those  that  turned  the 
world  upside  down  had  come  there  also,"  to  which  he 
made  reply,  "Why,  that  is  a  good  text."  We  then 
turned    to    talk    about    different    matters,   and    sure 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  99 

enough,  when  Brother  Balch  rose  to  take  his  text,  that 
was  it.  And  I  recollect  how  he  laid  his  subject  out. 
He  said  he  never  learned  but  what  Paul  plead  guilty 
to  the  charge.  He  was  sure  the  world  was  wrong  side 
up  then,  and  it  was  wrong  side  up  now,  and  he  was 
ready  to  contribute  his  mite  in  trying  to  turn  it  over. 
And  I  thought  before  he  got  through  he  bad  forgotten 
all  about  being  sick,  and  I  never  saw  such  a  turning 
over  of  the  world  in  its  theories  and  practices. 

I  have  said  much  as  Dr.  Sawyer  says,  "Wake  Broth- 
er Balch  up  in  the  night,  and  ask  him  to  preach  a  ser- 
mon upon  any  subject  within  the  range  of  Bible  teach- 
ing, and  in  two  minutes  he  would  have  it  all  thought 
out  and  be  ready  to  begin,  and  words  filled  with  elo- 
quence would  flow  glibly  from  his  tongue  sufficiently 
thrilling  to  stir  the  hearts  of  any  people. ''  He  was  one 
of  your  minute  men;  and  his  mind  was  quick  to  see  all 
the  bearings  of  a  subject,  and  he  could  be  relied  upon 
in  an  emergency.  He  had  a  rare  faculty  of  seeing  things 
at  a  glance.  He  could  reach  a  conclusion  by  orderly 
processes,  but  if  necessary  could  do  it  intuitively. 

Mr.  Balch  had  taken  high  ground  upon  the  reform 
character  of  our  religion  from  the  very  first,  and  it  is 
but  just  to  his  memory  to  state  that  when  many  of  his 
brethren  began  to  talk  of  "a  new  departure,"  he  found 
that  he  had  taken  it  along  with  his  vows  to  preach 
Universalism,  which  was  nothing  different  from 
Xew  Testament  Christianity;  and  long  before  many  of 
them  were  born.  Providence  seems  to  have  raised  him 
up  for  the  fulfilment  of  a  special  mission  to  our  denom- 
ination; and  he  began  immediately  upon  his  entrance 
into  the  ministry  to  emphasize  the  all-vitalizing  spirit 


100  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

of  Universal  ism;  and  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  many 
minds  into  the  more  practical  ways  of  thinking  and 
doing. 

In  April,  1832,  he  removed  to  Claremont,  X.  H. 
and  in  September,  1832,  he  commenced  the  publication 
of  the  new  paper  called  the  "  Impartialist."  I  find  the 
motto  he  employed  as  a  heading  to  his  sheet  is  com- 
posed of  two  texts  of  Scripture,  "What  is  truth?"  and 
"  Speaking  the  truth  in  love."  On  the  first  of  these  he 
remarks,  "  We  are  willing  to  receive  truth,  let  it  come 
from  what  source  it  may,  even  though  it  shall  termi- 
nate in  the  entire  overthrow  of  our  present  faith." 
And  then  at  the  head  of  the  editorial  department  he 
places  Paul's  words,  "  Doing  nothing  by  partiality. " 
In  addition  to  this  we  find  him  quoting  the  words  of 
St.  James  which  tells  us,  the  wisdom  which  is  from 
above  is  without  partiality,"  and  he  hopes  that 
he  may  be  governed  by  this  wisdom.  He  designs 
to  make  his  paper  what  its  name  purports ;  an 
"impartial  paper,  for  the  free  discussion  of  all  great 
subjects  of  a  doctrinal  and  moral  character."  In  set- 
ting forth  the  reason  for  publishing  the  "Impartialist," 
he  assures  us  that  "  it  is  for  advocating  the  simple  unvar- 
nished truth  of  God  ;  humbling  the  pride  and  arro- 
gance of  the  self-righteous;  teaching  sinners  the  folly 
of  sin,  and  persuading  all  to  hope  and  wait  and  work 
for  the  salvation  of  men." 

We  have  a  farther  expression  of  the  same  sentiment 
from  him  in  the  following :  "  We  are  happy  in  the  be- 
lief that  a  paper  is  now  established  in  which  all  im- 
portant subjects  shall  be  treated  with  candor.  Our 
cause  is  the  cause  of  truth.     Our  object  the  happiness 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  101 

of  all  men.  And  the  means  by  which  we  hope  to  ac- 
complish it,  the  extension  of  light  and  knowledge  by 
free  investigation  among  the  people.  We  have  no 
creed  to  support  from  which  we  dare  not  depart.  We 
have  no  forms,  usages  or  traditions,  too  venerable  or 
sacred  not  to  be  repudiated  when  shown  to  be  wrong. 
Hence  from  us  the  public  may  ever  expect  fair  and  hon- 
orable treatment  in  relation  to  every  subject  that  con- 
cerns the  welfare  of  humanity." 

And  from  that  time  to  this,  counting  the  lon^  vears 
of  his  life,  he  has  stood  more  than  any  other  at  the 
very  front  of  all  the  great  practical  questions  which 
we  are  found  discussing  in  our  own  times ;  and  has 
done  more  in  evening  up  our  Universalism ;  and  mak- 
it,  and  keeping  it,  a  thing  of  the  life  (not  in  the  role  of 
a  sectarian,  but  as  a  teacher  and  helper  in  all  good 
works),  on  the  broad  principle  of  universal  love  and 
good- will ;  devoting  himself  to  truth,  right  and  hu- 
manity ;  and  never  to  creed,  or  sect,  or  party,  as  allow- 
ing them  to  conflict  in  any  manner. 

Brother  Balch  was  a  Universalist,  and  preached  it 
everywhere,  in  all  so-called  Evangelical  churches  as 
well  as  our  own.  He  did  not  know  how  to  preach 
without  making  it  the  basis  of  his  sermon.  It  was  the 
staple  of  everything  he  said  and  did.  It  was  warp 
and  woof  and  structure,  and  organization,  and  all,  from 
foundation  to  capstone.  But  while  preaching  Univer- 
salism  he  did  not  preach  it  in  a  sectarian  way.  I  find 
an  article  in  his  scrap-book  taken  from  a  paper  pub- 
lished nearly  fifty  years  ago,  entitled  "  Universalism 
against  Sectarianism. "  It  is  almost  a  lament.  He 
savs.  "  Universalists  are  often  regarded  as  sectarists ; 


102  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

and  they  may  sometimes  be  so  in  truth  ;  but  when  they 
are  they  depart  from  the  principles  of  their  profession. 
They  acknowledge  no  particular  mode  of  faith  as 
indispensible  to  Christian  character.  They  approve  the 
good,  the  true,  the  useful  in  everything.  Having  no 
creed,  which  they  regard  as  of  binding  authority,  they 
have  nothing  with  which  their  own,  or  other  minds, 
should  be  checked  in  thought,  unless  it  shall  be  a  mere 
name.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  there  is  too  much  pride 
of  name,  and  love  of  party  in  the  world  ;  and  every- 
thing of  a  partisan  or  selfish  character  should  be  kept 
away  from  us.  We  ought  to  take  a  high  stand  in  these 
matters,  and  rise  above  the  slime  in  which  sectarians 
move.  We  ought  to  present  the  true  principles  of 
Universalism  to  the  world  ;  not  its  abstract  doctrines 
as  they  have  been  understood ;  or  as  they  are  explained 
by  this  or  that  man,  this  or  that  sect.  Let  us  main- 
tain the  broad  faith  of  our  religion,  and  avoid  partisan 
feeling,  and  we  shall  be  measured  by  a  new  standard." 
He  asks  to  know  "  What  evil,  sect  or  party  has  not 
wrought  in  the  world  ?  What  evil  are  they  not  work- 
ing all  the  while  ? " 

It  will  not  be  said  that  there  was  anything  narrow 
or  sectarian  about  Mr.  Balch.  His  sense  of  truth,  his 
love  of  truth,  his  reverence  for  truth'  all  pointed  in 
anther  direction.  Universalism  he  regarded  as  a  com- 
prehensive name  for  good-will  toward  man.  It  was  a 
spirit  of  benevolence,  and  kindness,  and  sympathy ; 
originating  .with  the  Universal  Father,  and  reaching 
out,  and  embracing  all  men,  and  laying  them  under  its 
high,  and  everlasting  obligations.  Christianity  to  his 
mind  was  hospitable,  inclusive  rather  than  exclusive, 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  103 

and  from  sectarian  and  party  strifes  he  always  kept 
aloof.  He  was  never  a  bigot  to  name,  sect  or  party, 
and  would  have  none  of  that  belittling,  partisan  spirit 
which  holds  so  much  sway  in  all  our  churches.  And 
only  a  short  time  previous  to  his  death,  when  too  weak 
to  write  it  himself,  he  caused  it  to  be  penned  by  another, 
that  he  might  leave  it  as  one  of  his  last  messages  that 
"Christianity  will  never  triumph,  until  sectarianism, 
and  dogmatism  are  excluded  from  it,  and  the  fruits  of 
the  spirit  are  accepted  as  the  proof  of  faith  and  fidelity. 
When  these  differences,  and  bigotries,  dissolve  away 
under  the  warm  sunshine  of  divine  and  Christian 
love,  and  we  begin  to  live  like  brethren  —  the  true  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  —  the  world  will  be  speedily  converted, 
and  never  before.  The  true  Universalist  can  be  no 
bigot,  no  enemy  of  his  brethren,  can  desire  and  do  no 
wrong,  oppress  no  man,  reject  no  truth,  refuse  no 
good,  neglect  no  duty.  If  men  will  stand  fast  in  true 
liberty,  and  labor  in  love  for  the  good  of  the  whole 
race,  in  preference  to  building  up  a  sect  for  sectarian 
and  selfish  ends,  the  Lord  will  bless  them,  and  prosper 
their  work." 

Brother  Balch  had  the  true  view  of  liberality.  It 
was  not  looseness,  nor  license,  nor  liberty  to  do  wrong, 
in  any  manner.  He  was  no  anarchist,  or  non-govern- 
ment man ;  for  with  him  "  every  thought  was  to  be 
brought  in  subjection  to  obedience  to  Christ."  But  he 
was  large-minded  in  the  support  of  everything  good; 
everything  his  heart  told  him  was  right  and  true.  He 
had  a  mind  which  dared  to  think  for  itself,  and  a  tongue 
which  knew  how  to  speak.  He  applauded  investiga- 
tion; not  only  tolerating,  but  encouraging  free  inquiry. 


104  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

He  counseled  original  research,  bidding  every  seeker 
after  truth  keep  his  eyes  and  ears  open,  that  he  might 
learn  all  God  had  to  teach.  He  did  not  draw  the  lines 
about  certain  opinions  and  say,  "  Thus  far  shalt  thou 
go,  and  no  farther/'  He  was  positive  in  his  convictions 
with  well-defined  logical  sentiments,  being  fitted  by 
nature,  rather  than  by  education,  to  follow  out  a  clear 
and  well-sustained  argument;  to  weigh  conflicting  tes- 
timony, and  compare  the  results  of  actual  experiment. 
With  views  thus  clear,  he  ever  thought  to  definitelv 
express  them.  He  vindicated  the  right  (as  in  duty 
bound)  to  reason  without  prejudice,  to  examine,  think, 
judge  and  act  for  himself  as  unto  God,  and  not  answer- 
able to  any  who  should  usurp  the  privilege  of  dictating 
what  the  course  of  another  should  be.  Xo  man  was  to  be 
the  keeper  of  his  conscience.  Xeither  the  scorn  of  men, 
nor  the  petty  rules  of  fashion,  nor  the  bounds  they  set' 
to  propriety  or  expediency,  could  deter  him  from 
searching  out  the  mind  of  God,  in  his  endeavor  to  know 
the  truth  that  he  might  be  made  free;  in  the  assurance 
that  "if  the  truth  should  make  him  free  he  would  be 
free  indeed. " 

Thinking  accurately  he  acquired  a  decision  in  his 
opinions,  and  was  brought  out  of  the  darkness  of  other 
men's  dim  and  guessing  thoughts,  into  the  fulness  of 
persuasion,  and  with  his  emphatic  utterance  he  may 
have  seemed  to  some  as  being  dictatorial  in  spirit. 
But  nothing  could  be  farther  from  his  intention.  He 
sought  to  apply  good  sense  to  theology,  to  reconcile 
knowledge  with  belief ;  reason  with  revelation ;  to 
humanize  the  church  ;  yet  retaining  therein  all  that  was 
divine.     In  his  hands  religion  was  more  humane,  more 


HEX.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  105 

natural,  more  rational,  more  liberal.  He  had  a  few 
great  fundamentals  to  which  he  held  with  the  greatest 
tenacity ;  but  beyond  that  the  largest  liberty  was 
accorded  to  everyone.  He  always  wanted  the  kite- 
string  well  in  hand,  and  then  he  cared  not  that  the 
kite  itself  should  float  broadly  to  the  breeze.  If  he 
entertained  some  views  peculiar  to  himself,  it  was  not 
that  he  sought  to  take  away  any  liberty  of  others.  He 
was  as  willing  that  everyone  should  entertain  and  defend 
what  seemed  to  him  right  and  good,  as  to  do  it  for 
himself.  It  was  not  then  that  he  was  seeking  to  inveigh 
against  any  man's  thoughts  or  opinions,  but  that  he 
might  better  commend  and  encourage  virtue  and  the 
right  in  all  matters  of  well-being  and  well-doing.  He 
acknowledged  no  responsibility  to  any  body  of  men, 
or  anv  svstem  of  theologv,  for  his  manner  of  thinking. 
or  for  the  opinions  he  might  entertain,  and  he  could 
not  for  the  sake  of  policy  or  to  suit  the  circumstances 
of  the  occasion  in  which  he  found  himself  placed,  fal- 
ter from  strict  duty  from  the  principles  of  Christian 
uprightness,  or  the  law  of  eternal  and  all-binding  mor- 
ality, which  encompassed  him  about. 

He  was  the  friend  and  disciple  of  what  was  true, 
and  he  would  have  scorned  himself  had  he  shrunk  in 
any  presence  from  avowing  and  defending  the  thing* 
that  seemed  to  him  most  right.  He  would  be  true  at  any 
price  in  making  a  manly  defence  of  coveted  sentiments, 
but  he  ever  impressed  you  with  entire  ingenuousness 
and  sincerity,  and  would  stand  so  unabashed  and  nobly 
before  you,  that  often  he  made  you  greatly  ashamed. 
You  could  not  meet  him  without  feeling  his  earnest- 
ness of  purpose,  his  loyalt}T  to  his  convictions,  and  his 


106  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

determination  to  work  hour  by  hour  and  clay  by  day 
to  accomplish  all  the  good  he  could. 

There  are  those  who  never  do  aught  to  merit  the 
resentment  of  their  brethren,  or  draw  down  the  dis- 
pleasure of  friend  or  foe  upon  their  heads.  But  there 
are  those  as  well  who  can  not  be  made  to  swerve  from 
their  soul's  integrity.  They  had  rather  die  than  turn 
back  from  a  principle  of  right.  They  are  fearless  and 
independent  in  their  thinking,  and  having  once  made 
up  their  minds  for  themselves,  they  know  nothing  but 
to  go  forward,  and  the  prospect  of  favor  if  they  remain 
silent  can  not  beguile  or  entrap  them.  The  agony  of 
sharing  in  the  battle  that  is  to  be  waged  to  give  tri- 
umph to  justice  and  righteousness  gives  but  a  nobler 
daring,  and  consequently  carves  for  them  a  nobler  life. 

]^o\v  there  is  honor  in  all  this.  We  can  be  assured 
that  manhood  is  a  thing  Avhich  is  much  wanted  in  the 
world;  and  the  minister  needs  to  be  wise,  if  may  be, 
above  the  majority  of  men ;  independent,  but  consider- 
ate ;  fearless  without  rashness ;  firm  without  obstinacy ; 
honest  and  faithful  to  assert  his  convictions  when 
others  may  shrink  from  doing  so ;  not  believing  that 
he  has  the  right  to  sacrifice  the  great  boon  of  his  reli- 
gion for  worldly  esteems.  The  fact  is,  that  wordly 
honors — that  worst  of  human  evils — has  forever  played 
too  great  a  part  in  men's  religions.  Wherein,  let  it  be 
asked,  consists  the  manhood  of  a  man?  Is  it  not  in  his 
interior  thought,  and  not  in  anything  merely  outward  ? 
A  man's  proper  personality  lies  in  the  character  of  his 
thought ;  and  he  is  true  and  self-respecting  only  so  far 
as  he  is  true  to  his  inward  thought,  scorning  to  com- 
promise  it   through   outward   conformity    where  any 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  10 T 

cardinal  point  is  involved.  In  the  common  affairs  of 
life  manly  men  do  not  favor  pretence,  nor  encourage 
an  outward  conformity  that  belies  the  inward  convic- 
tion. 

The  whole  truth  here,  then,  if  it  were  told  us, 
would  be  that  Brother  Batch  sought  to  live  faithful  to 
his  own  convictions,  and  would  never  consent  to  sacri- 
fice a  principle  for  the  love  of  popularity,  or  for  what 
the  greater  number  might  think  to  affirm  as  right.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  sav  that  he  stood  to  his  integrr'.tv  as 
resolutely  as  ever  martyr  stood  at  the  stake.  He  was 
one  of  your  imperturbable  souls;  and  nothing  moved 
him  from  the  stateliness  of  his  tread.  He  believed 
that  he  had  reverently  to  obey  the  divine  voice  that 
speaks  to  us  from  the  heavens;  that  the  thing  for  us 
first  of  all  is  to  do  right ;  and  if  we  cannot  live  by  that, 
then  we  can  die ;  and  the  wise  thing  for  us  to  do  under 
such  circumstances  seemed  to  him  that  we  should  die. 

Now  it  is  these  things  we  have  been  saying  that 
furnishes  us  a  clear  reason  as  to  why  Brother  Balch 
was  ever  opposed  to  too  much  creed  theology,  and  by 
his  incessant  opposition  to  the  narrowing  process  was 
frequently  brought  into  strife  with  his  brethren.  With 
his  enlarged  views  of  what  Christianity  meant  to  teach, 
and  his  breadth  of  humane  sentiment,  he  could  not 
brook  the  methods  by  which  so  many  minds  had  been 
brought  in  subjection  to  the  hierarchy  of  sects,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  no  other  way  for  him,  if  he  would 
be  true  to  himself,  or  true  to  the  truth,  than  to  stand 
unyieldingly  just  where  he  did  stand.  He  professed  be- 
fore God,  and  in  the  sight  of  men  everywhere,  to  accept 
with  thankfulness  all  the  great  essential  doctrines  of 


108  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

the  Christian  religion,  and  trusted  that  he  was  a  sin- 
cere lover  of  the  precepts  which  Christ  inculcated ; 
and  yet  as  a  brotherhood  of  believers  we  might  not 
agree  altogether  as  it  respected  many  a  non-essential, 
and  each  was  to  be  his  own  judge  in  matters  of  this 
character,  and  no  one  had  the  right  to  say,  "  Why  do 
ye  so  ? "  He  did  not  regard  it  as  strange  at  all,  that 
there  should  be  all  those  differences  of  opinion  respect- 
ing modes  of  faith  and  administration  of  church  gov- 
ernment ;  but,  that  such  differences  should  be  made  a 
bar  to  Christian  fellowship,  and  to  prevent  good  men 
working  together  in  a  worthy  cause  was  thought  by 
him  to  be  plainly  anti-Christian  and  reprehensible. 

He  was  not  presuming  that  we  could  ever  frame  a 
form  of  belief  that  would  meet  the  exact  thought  of 
any  great  number  of  persons  in  its  minute  details,  for 
no  two  persons  could  be  found  anywhere  to  think  just 
alike — not  if  they  thought  at  all.  He  deemed  it  more 
or  less  the  fault  of  every  system  that  writes  its  creed, 
that  it  fixes  the  limits  of  inquiry,  and  harnesses  thought 
to  a  circle;  and  so  puts  the  powers  of  the  mind  to  sleep. 
It  substituted  the  forms  of  truth  for  truth  itself ;  gave 
authority  instead  of  reason,  and  sought  to  tempt  or 
force  the  mind  into  subjection.  In  this  way  it  appeared 
to  him  that  creeds  often  became  fetters  and  restraints, 
whereas  the  minds  of  men  should  be  kept  upon  the 
alert,  when  new  principles  were  being  inculcated  and 
new  plans  and  institutions  recommended,  to  explore  in 
all  fields  of  progress  lying  in  advance  of  them.  His 
rule  was  the  one  thought,  that 

"We  must  upward  still  and  onward, 
Who  would  keep  abreast  of  truth." 


REV.  WILLIAM  STEVENS    BALCH.  109 

And  a  creed,  of  course,  then,  to  meet  the  wants  of 
any  considerable  number  of  reasonable  minds,  and  to 
be  a  bond  of  union  among  them,  had  necessarily  to  be 
very  general  and  comprehensive  in  its  statements,  in 
order  that  it  might  not  become  what  other  creeds  hud 
been  in  other  churches;  something  to  bind  the  con- 
science, a  yoke  of  oppression,  a  chain  to  fetter  the  soul's 
freedom.  This  was  his  main  objection  to  creeds  and  con- 
fessions— the  use  they  made  of  ecclesiasticisms  to  bind 
thought  and  restrain  conscience,  hindering  the  truth, 
and  preventing  the  soul's  progress  in  its  upward  aspi- 
rations for  the  absolute,  the  infinite,  the  eternal,  the 
universal.  He  would  have  no  mams  intellectual  beino- 
dwarfed  by  the  claims  of  the  church  to  provide  and 
enforce  a  dogma.  He  had  too  much  faith  in  reason, 
too  much  respect  for  the  rights  of  individual  judgment, 
too  much  confidence  in  our  common  humanity,  too 
much  tolerance  for  opinions.  Protestantism,  he  held, 
begun  in  a  protest  against  the  rejection  of  reason; 
being  a  way  of  thinking  and  not  a  conclusion  of 
thought ;  a  progressive  work  of  investigating  and  grow- 
ing, rather  than  a  dictum  or  a  dogma.  Give  it  up.  and 
all  that  has  been  won  in  the  religious  progress  of  the 
past  three  and  a  half  centuries,  is  gone. 

Brother  Balch  had  none  too  high  an  opinion  of  the 
church,  so  but  what  he  was  always  jealous  of  its 
encroachments  upon  individual  liberty.  Nothing  with 
him  had  reflected  so  great  disgrace  upon  humanity,  and 
made  integrity  itself  stand  abashed,  as  the  false  assump- 
tions of  some  who  were  large  in  their  professions  and 
little  in  their  deeds,  and  really  stole  the  livery  of  heaven 
to  serve  the  devil  in.     He  had   not  to  go  far  to  find 


110  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

many  sad  examples  of  the  backwardness,  and  even  be- 
trayal of  the  clergy  of  too  many  of  those  good  causes 
that  stood  posing  most  grandly  before  the  world.  He 
had  a  caustic  tongue  for  all  such  as  were  forever  hold- 
ing themselves  in  the  back-ground,  and  no  faith  at  all, 
and  scarcely  more  of  patience  with  them,  in  arraying 
themselves  in  opposition  to  everything  but  the  old, 
the  ancient,  the  venerable,  regardless  of  its  being  right 
or  wrong.  He  almost  hated  your  cautious,  timid,  time- 
servers,  as  traitors  to  humanity;  believing  that  they 
wrought  more  enduring  damage  to  the  race  than  all 
other  enemies  put  together.  He  could  not  think  that 
we  were  to  parley  with  evil,  or  to  temporize  in  any 
manner,  sealing  our  lips,  and  stifling  our  thoughts. 
"We  were  not  to  become  recreant  to  our  honest  convic- 
tions of  duty,  but  to  stand  out  boldly,  speaking  and 
acting  in  the  defence  of  the  right,  the  true,  and  the 
holy.  This  was  his  radicalism,  to  purge  to  the  bottom 
of  things;  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  all  error,  laving  the 
ax  at  the  root  of  the  tree;  leaving  no  one  particle  of 
diabolism  to  curse  or  cure  any  longer. 

]N"o  severer  strictures  are  anywhere  found  than  those 
pronounced  by  the  Prophets  upon  the  shepherds  of 
Israel;  that  they  "did  not  feed  the  sheep,  but  fed 
themselves  ;  that  they  ate  the  fat,  and  clothed  them- 
selves with  the  wool ;  that  they  killed  them  that  were 
fed,  and  did  not  keep  them  from  becoming  a  prey  to 
every  beast  of  the  field."  And  it  is  in  this  same  strain 
that  the  Savior  followed  on.  when  he  said,  "I  am  the 
Good  Shepherd.  The  Good  Shepherd  giveth  his  life 
for  the  sheep.  But  he  that  is  an  hireling,  and  not  the 
Shepherd,  whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  seeth  the  wolf 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  Ill 

coming,  and  leaveth  the  sheep  and  fleeth ;  and  the  wolf 
catcheth  them  and  scattereth  the  sheep.  The  hireling 
fleeth  because  he  is  an  hireling,  and  careth  not  for  the 
sheep.  " 

Permit  me  to  quote  in  this  connection  the  words  of 
Brother    Balch   as   touching  this   subject .     He  savs : 

"  That  the  church  has  been  backward  and  dilatory  in 
its  movements,  often  in  the  wrong,  and  opposed  to 
progress,  cannot  be  denied.  This  has  been  its  great 
mistake,  and  a  chief  hindrance  to  its  universal  spread 
and  triumph.  Although  directed  and  controlled  bv 
those  who  claim  to  be  of  the  elect,  the  converted  souls, 
it  has  failed  to  demonstrate  the  spirit  and  power  of 
truth  committed  to  its  charge.  The  frailties  of  human 
nature  have  found  place  in  its  counsels  and  conduct, 
and  misguided  its  decisions  and  doings.  Its  manage- 
ment has  not  been  unlike  other  public  bodies,  gotten 
up  in  the  same  manner,  maneuvered  by  selfishness  for 
personal  interest  and  party  gains.  Indeed,  how  much 
like  the  rest  of  the  world  has  been  its  methods  of  work- 
ing, and  rarely  has  it  shown  more  wisdom  or  less  per- 
sonal ambition  and  worldliness.  Its  boastful  pretensions 
have  never  been  well  sustained.  Hence  divisions  and 
dissensions,  oppositions  and  strifes,  have  come  down  to 
our  day,  and  still  exist  among  the  professed  followers 
of  our  Lord,  the  Master,  the  Teacher,  the  Saviour  of 
the  world.  The  diverse  and  numerous  sects  that  began 
with  Paul,  and  Peter,  and  Apollos  have  continued  to 
multiply,  each  claiming  to  itself  superiority  over  every 
other,  in  the  measure  and  distinctness  of  the  opinions 
defended,  or  in  the  perfection  of  its  mode  of  govern- 
ment administered.  Very  small  differences  have  often 
led  to  very  bitter  controversies,  and  lasting  alienations. 
And  thus  the  church  militant  has  failed  to  become  the 
church  triumphant  " 

His  whole  life  was  a  protest  in  this  smiie  direction. 


112  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

He  did  not  believe  that  it  was  for  our  church  to  be- 
come narrow,  sectarian  and  dogmatic,  like  other  sects, 
copying  their  plans,  and  adopting  their  methods,  or  in 
placing  ourselves  in  rivalry  with  them ;  but  to  try  and 
manifest  the  spirit  of  Jesus  as  exhibited  in  the  earlier 
days  of  Christianity,  or  even  in  our  own  earlier  days. 
The  church,  with  him,  was  the  expression  of  the  life 
of  religion — or  the  working  of  brotherhood  from  the 
heart  of  humanity.  He  had  seen  too  much  of  the 
illiberal  and  persecuting  spirit  of  these  older  sects  to 
make  him  in  love  with  their  policy — and  when  our 
own  profession  of  belief  came  before  the  Illinois  State 
Convention,  met  in  Mendota,  in  1S65, 1  think,  for  inter- 
pretation and  handed  down  to  the  different  State  Con- 
ventions from  the  United  States  General  Convention, 
he  looked  upon  it  as  being  a  limit  of  faith,  and  as  if 
truth  was  something  to  be  determined  by  vote,  and  men 
must  be  left  in  nothing  to  think  for  themselves,  but  must 
have  it  dictated  to  them  what  they  were  to  believe  :  and 
it  met  with  his  unqualified  disfavor — and  requiring  the 
approval  of  two-thirds  of  the  States  to  ratify  it.  the 
measure  was  defeated.  In  aiming  to  put  somebody's 
else  interpretation  upon  the  creed,  and  making  it 
authoritative  with  him,  he  could  not  see  where  it  was 
going  to  stop,  and  his  mind  at  once  took  the  alarm, 
and  revolted  as  if  by  instinct.  He  claimed  that  he  had 
been  charged  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  and  accepted 
the  charge  at  the  hands  of  Father  Ballon,  "  to  search 
the  Scriptures  in  the  light  of  reason  rather  than  of 
creeds:  to  not  suffer  himself  to  be  misled  by  human 
and  sectarian  authority ;  but  to  beware  of  all  such  ten- 
dencies." and  he  was  sustained  by  conscious  integrity 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  113 

when  brethren  found  fault.  Some  had  called  our 
Profession  of  Belief  a  Confession  of  Faith ;  reminding 
him  of  some  kind  of  priestly,  or  Catholic  confessional, 
which  had  for  him  no  savory  meaning  that  would  pave 
its  way  to  his  acceptance,  and  he  caught  at  it.  It  was 
too  much,  and  he  would  have  none  of  it.  He  was  so 
stirred  as  to  return  to  his  pulpit  in  Galesburg  and 
preach  a  sermon  upon  it,  by  which  some  declared  that 
he  took  himself  away  from  the  denomination.  But 
the  sermon  was  in  effect,  saying  that  if  Universalism 
was  not  Universalism,  then  he  was  not  a  Universalist. 
To  say  that  Brother  Balch  was  not  a  Universalist,  was 
about  equivalent  to  saving  that  there  was  not  any  Uni- 
versalism in  the  world,  and  never  had  been  any. 
He  was  the  very  incarnation  of  the  thing — Universal- 
ism made  flesh  amono*  us. 

Brother  Balch  tells  us  that  his  objection  was  not  to 
the  interpretation  per  se,  but  to  the  assumption  of 
power  to  give  it  authority  by  a  body  elected  for  no 
such  purpose.  He  could  not  see  how  one  man,  or 
any  set  of  men,  had  any  right  or  business,  to  interpret 
authoritatively  the  evident  intention  of  somebody  else 
in  drawing  up  a  declaration  of  principles  for  the  de- 
nomination. It  would  hardly  seem  that  our  allegiance 
to  a  prescribed  faith  could  be  greater  than  our  allegi- 
ance to  the  Scriptures,  for  it  did  not  exist  only  as  it 
was  believed  to  be  a  rescript  of  the  essential  doctrines 
of  the  Bible;  and  then  of  course  as  open  to  investiga- 
tion and  interpretation  as  the  Bible  itself.  "  My  ob- 
jection" he  says  to  the  Declaration,  "was,  that  it  in- 
troduced a  new  and  wrong  principle,  and  made  a  gen- 
eral to  meet  an  exceptional  case,  which  it  did  not  meet 


114:  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

when  applied  ;  that  it  attempted  a  precedent  which  un- 
rebuked  must  be  fatal  to  religious  liberty,  and  personal 
responsibility  ;  that  it  prescribed  a  new  test,  a  mere 
submission  to  authority,  where  no  new  truth  was  given, 
no  change  was  made,  no  new  principle  was  pretended — 
a  mere  interpretation.  To  such  a  test  I  did  not,  do 
not,  and  God  helping  me  will  not,  submit.  I  deny  ut- 
terly, emphatically,  and  continually,  the  right  of  any 
man,  or  council  of  men,  to  exercise  lordship  over  my 
faith  or  conscience,  to  decide  by  vote  what  I  do.  or 
may  or  shall  believe.  God  never  made,  nor  gave  to 
councils,  synods  or  conventicles,  to  popes,  kings,  priests 
or  laymen,  a  mold  in  which  to  cast  forms  of  truth  for 
all  time ;  nor  indicated  a  system  of  patchwork  to  re- 
pair and  interpret  old  and  obsolete  doctrines  of  men, 
to  keep  them  respectable,  and  preserve  them  from  ob- 
livion. The  true  Christian  rises  above  all  this,  and 
thankfully  receives  the  light  of  truth,  come  whence  it 
may,  and  where  there  is  found  an  honest  confession 
of  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  and  a  sympathy  of  heart  to  do 
good  to  fellow  man,  there  is  a  willing  fellowship  of 
hands  to  work  in  all  good  causes. 

Some  have  thought  Brother  Balch  too  beligerant  and 
contentious,  ready  to  enter  the  arena  of  controversy 
or  join  in  the  affray  of  polemics  with  a  war  of  words 
that  did  not  always  conduce  to  harmony  in  the  de- 
nomination, and  they  have  attributed  to  pugnacity 
what  had  to  be  charged  to  his  loyalty  and  fidelity. 
Firm  in  what  he  deemed  the  course  of  right  and  duty, 
he  wished  no  occasion  to  pass  without  defending  his 
honest  convictions.  Thinking  for  himself,  he  deemed 
it  no  less  a  duty  to  a^t  for  himself,  and  his  wisdom  and 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  115 

convictions  did  sometimes  compel  him  into  a  heartfelt 
and  honest  opposition.  But  hear  him,  i;  I  do  not  like 
to  find  fault  with  brethren  whom  I  love,  and  with 
whom  I  have  worked  so  long  and  I  think  faithfully — 
I  know  honestly  and  religiously.  But  it  does  seem  to 
me  that  Ave  have  made  a  wide  departure,  not  only 
from  the  habits  and  usages  of  our  fraternity,  but  from 
the  principle,  broad,  generous  and  loving — embraced 
in  the  very  name  of  what  we  profess — and  are  in  the 
ruts  of  preceding  sectarians.  Especially  have  we  de- 
parted from  the  simplicity,  the  zeal,  the  humility  and 
patient  working  of  a  half-century  ago.  It  were  a  great 
satisfaction  to  live  in  peace  and  good-will  with  all,  but 
not  at  the  sacrifice  of  truth.  I  can  not  yield  the  truth 
for  any  cause,  nor  shun  to  defend  the  right.''  It  will  be 
acknowledged  that  Brother  Balch  was  not  one  of  those, 
who  thought  it  necessary  to  inquire  how  the  rulers  and 
Pharisees  and  chief  priests  believed,  for  fashion  and 
custom,  and  tradition  and  pride  went  as  little  way 
with  him  as  almost  any  man  you  ever  meet.  But  he 
does  not  scruple  to  say  of  himself,  "  \Ye  suppose  we 
love  popularity  well  enough — as  well,  perhaps,  as  any- 
body else — but  we  love  honest  principle  and  manly 
integrity  better.  Shall  we  refuse  to  tell  the  truth,  and 
a  truth  which  regards  the  public  welfare,  through  fear 
of  losing  the  good  opinion  of  others,  or  the  affection  and 
esteem  of  brethren.  How  could  we  do  such  a  thinar? 
If  others  esteem  us  the  less  because  we  have  told 
them  the  truth,  we  are  certainly  sorry  for  it — not  that 
we  have  said  what  we  have — but  that  their  esteem  has 
not  been  founded  on  some  better  principles.  We  prefer 
the  respect  of  our  own  conscience  to  the  flatteries  of 


116  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

all  the  people  in  the  world."  There  are  certainly  enough 
that  will  natter  you;  but  the  numbers  are  too  few  that 
will  tell  }^ou  the  important  things  that  it  most  concerns 
you  to  know.  We  must  understand  that  it  is  a  great 
thing  to  be  a  man  of  sturdy  principle,  and  that  Brother 
Balch  always  was.  He  felt  that  in  standing  in  a  relig- 
ious attitude  before  the  world,  it  was  as  though  he  was 
standing  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  he  must  not  dis- 
simulate. It  is,  indeed,  mortifying  in  the  extreme,  to 
see  such  weakness  and  pusalanimity  in  those  who  have 
education  and  influence,  and  who  ought  to  be  leaders 
in  the  cause  of  truth  and  the  right.  How  many  are 
incapable  of  any  opinions  of  their  own,  and  less  capable 
of  expressing  them.  They  have  no  real  reliance  upon 
themselves,  and  no  ambition  except  to  be  with  those 
who  are  high  in  authority.  If  our  brother  was  ambi- 
tious at  all,  it  will  not  be  said  that  it  was  in  this  direc- 
tion. And  still,  in  not  always  agreeing  with  his  brethren 
in  regard  to  some  measures  of  denominational  manage- 
ment, we  may  be  sure  that  it  arose  from  his  heroic 
fidelity  to  truth  and  honesty;  and  though  his  language 
may  not  always  seem  to  some  to  be  couched  in  the  most 
respectful  manner  that  could  be,  yet  his  purposes  and 
motives,  and  the  main  drift  of  what  he  aimed  to  say 
and  do,  was  never  very  far  out  of  the  way.  I  will  vouch 
for  it,  that  he  has  been  nearer  right,  upon  the  whole, 
in  all  these  years,  than  most  of  those  who  have  sought 
to  oppose  him. 

It  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  he  was  always 
aboveboard  in  everything  he  did.  His  nature  was 
frank  and  open  as  the  day,  and  there  was  that  in  his 
countenance  and  bearing  that  bespoke  your  confidence, 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BAXCH.  117 

and  commanded  your  respect.  His  was  never  an  in- 
triguing spirit,  acting  under  a  mask, and  seeking  sinister 
ends,  but  with  a  heart  outspoken  in  words  of  unmis- 
takable import,  he  pursued  with  clear  and  steady  aim, 
the  course  which  seemed  to  him  wise.  He  believed 
less  in  human  contrivance  than  almost  any  man  you 
might  encounter.  There  was  nothing  to  be  carried  by 
trickery,  or  by  artifice  and  scheming  with  him.  Too 
many  are  apt  to  place  reliance  upon  management  and 
maneuvering  more  than  on  principle  and  merit,  but  he 
scorned  to  resort  to  any  extreme  tactics,  or  any  uncon- 
scionable methods  to  cany  a  point.  He  hated  mean- 
ness and  strategy,  and  could  be  fully  relied  upon  never 
to  do  aught  to  gratify  petty,  personal  ambition,  or  to 
advance  his  individual  fortune,  that  was  not  straight 
forward  as  between  man  and  man.  His  methods  were 
all  simple  and  plain,  as  in  the  advancement  of  the 
cause  of  truth,  and  the  practical  power  of  knowledge 
for  the  elevation  of  mankind  in  virtue  and  happiness, 
and  his  means  gradual  but  sure  as  for  the  righting  of 
every  wrong,  like  Christianity,  displayed  in  the  moral 
teachings  and  pure  life  of  Jesus,  which  is  admitted  to 
be  the  clearest  demonstration  of  the  power  and  value 
of  truth  in  reference  to  the  needs  of  man.  It  may  be 
said  that 

"  His  armor  was  bis  honest  thought, 
And  simplest  truth  his  highest  skill." 

He  had  no  other  method  than  to  compass  right  ends 
with  right  means,  and  wait  patiently  for  the  issues  of 
his  cause ;  and  so  spoke  the  truth  and  left  it  to  battle 
for  itself.  He  had  such  confidence  in  its  capacity  to 
vindicate  itself,  and  make  its  unobstructed  wav   to  the 


118  THE    LIFE   AND    LABORS    OF 

hearts  and  consciences  of  all  who  prize  and  love  it, 
that  he  would  dare  trust  anything  to  it.  All  right  and 
true  principles  were  everlasting,  and  to  his  mind 
nothing  could  shake  or  destroy  them. 

Mr.  Balch  has  never  written  many  books,  but  the 
bulk  of  what  he  has  written  has  been  of  a  character  to 
do  honor  to  his  religion.  Among  the  number,  to  which 
he  always  referred  with  more  or  less  pride,  were  his 
"Lectures  on  Language,"  in  1838,  and  his  "Grammar 
of  the  English  Language,  "in  1810.  About  the  time  of 
these  publications  he  also  published"  A  Manual  for  Sun- 
day Schools,"  and -some  other  smaller  works.  At  a 
later  date,  after  his  first  visit  to  the  Old  Country,  he 
brought  out  "  Ireland  as  I  Saw  It  ",  and  then  last  of  all 
his  "Peculiar  People".  Several  of  these  have  already 
received  notice  in  what  seemed  the  more  proper  place 
for  them.  Of  the  last  mentioned  I  give  it  here.  It 
was  mostly  written  in  leisure  hours  after  Brother 
Balch's  last  return  from  Europe  and  the  Holy  Land, 
though  not  published  till  a  considerable  later  date,  and 
was  designed  to  illustrate  in  practical  life  certain  great 
moral  principles  of  Christianity.  In  a  review  of  the 
book  by  Dr.  Thayer,  among  other  excellent  things,  he 
says  of  it,  "The  entire  narrative  is  of  that  pure  moral 
character  that  it  cannot  fail  to  open  the  well-spring  of 
affection  and  love  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  read  it." 

The  following  is  what  we  ourselves  said  of  it  at  the 
time  it  was  first  brought  under  our  eye  : 

"It  is  one  of  the  books  that  is  not  written  to  while 
away  an  idle  hour,  or  make  money  without  the  consid- 
eration of  doing  the  world  a  valuable  service.  It  is 
crowded  full  to  repletion  of  the  noblest  sentiments  to 
which  the  heart  responds  as  if  by  instinct,  and  it  is 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  119 

impossible  that  a  person  should  rise  from  the  reading 
of  it  without  being  made  better  and  more  manly  by  it. 
Every  page  almost  from  beginning  to  end  evinces  what 
ought  to  be  the  spirit  and  workings  of  Christianity  when 
carried  out  into  real  life,  and  yet  it  is  of  the  story  kind  — 
fresh  as  any  novel.  The  reader  need  not  expect  to  rind 
any  foolish  sentimentality  in  it  —  for  it  is  just  such  a 
book  as  Ave  might  suppose  Brother  Balch  would  write  if 
he  was  going  to  try  his  hand  at  making  something  that 
should  be  both  readable  and  instructive.  From  the 
moment  you  sit  down  to  its  persual  you  feel  that  you 
are  taken  possession  of,  and  no  other  impulse  is  as 
strong  as  that  of  being  hastened  along  toward  the  end. 
He  who  has  read  any  of  Brother  Balch's  narratives,  or 
travels  in  the  East,  knows,  without  being  told,  that  he 
could  not  write  anything  of  an  uninteresting  character. 
I  will  acknowledge  that  I  have  never  looked  into  such 
a  storied  mirror  of  the  Christian  religion,  so  fully  dis- 
playing what  Christ  aimed  to  do  for  the  world,  were 
the  world  but  willing  to  profit  by  his  teachings  and 
example.  It  gives  one  faith  in  the  Millenium,  to  look 
at  so  genuine  a  people  as  he  describes  :  a  community  of 
such  simplicity  of  manners,  modeled  after  the  pure  and 
loving  spirit  of  Christianity,  without  anything  of  the 
world's  vain  distinctions  and  extravagances.  In  regard 
to  the  world's  selfishness  and  oppression,  it  sets  off  in 
strangest  contrast  with  the  so-called  Christian  practices 
of  to-day,  in  the  midst  of  so  much  of  parade  and  pre- 
tensions, andsham  ceremonials,  and  sectarian  ambitions 
and  strifes,  that  have  done  so  much  to  destroy  the 
religion  of  the  world." 

A  donation  was  made  of  this  work  by  Mr.  Balch 
to  the  "  Universalist  Woman's  Association,"  of  Illinois, 
with  the  copyright  and  plates,  of  which  honorable 
mention  was  made  at  the  time  of  his  death  by  the 
directors  of  the  board,  in  a  set  of  resolutions,  the 
first  and  second  of  which  were : 


120  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  respect  his  memory  for 
the  good  and  useful  life  of  four-score  years  just 
closed. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  honor  his  name  for  the  gener- 
ous gift  to  the  the  Universalist  Woman's  Association 
for  missionary  purposes." 

Brother  Balch  always  felt  a  great  interest  in  mis- 
sions. It  was  his  ruling  passion,  in  accordance  with 
the  prayer  of  faith,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,  and  Thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  is  done  in  heaven,"  and  he 
was  un  wearied  in  his  exertions,  traveling  far  and  near 
to  visit  the  brethren,  and  attend  associations  and 
conventions  as  far  as  would  consist  with  the  discharge 
of  his  home  duties.  The  spirit  of  missions  is  every- 
where the  same,  whether  developed  in  the  home  or  the 
foreign  field,  and  he  responded  with  high  and  grateful 
enthusiasm  to  every  Macedonian  call ;  yet  the  moral 
desolations  around  him  claimed  his  first  effort. 

It  will  be  acknowledged  that  his  whole  life  was 
missionary  in  its  spirit  and  labors,  though  he  was  of 
opinion,  and  sa\rs  :  "  We  can  rightfully  claim  a  better 
gift  to  bestow  on  what  we  call  heathen  nations,  than 
sects  who  have  been  engaged  in  foreign  missions  for 
many  years.  The  true  history  of  these  missions  would 
reveal  facts  and  results  little  understood.  It  has  been 
mine  to  visit  many  stations  in  Greece,  Turkey,  Syria, 
Palestine,  Egypt  and  Mexico,  and  I  know  whereof  I 
affirm."  He  thought  we  had  heathen  enough  all  about 
us,  and  should  begin  first  to  help  them  at  our  very 
doors.  He  asks  to  know,  "Where  are  crimes  more 
common,  thefts,  robberies,  murders,  drunkenness,  gam- 
blings, everv  degree  of  extravagance,  follv  and  shame. 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  121 

more  common,  good  and  wholesome  laws  less  regarded. 


justice  more  outraged,  than  in  America  I  Talk  of 
'  heathen  Chinee.'  Are  they  not  more  industrious 
and  less  complaining  and  quarrelsome  than  other 
laborers  ?  Do  their  opium  dens  breed  more  mischief, 
or  lead  to  more  crime  and  misery  than  the  thousand 
rum-holes  in  our  large  cities  that  we  license  to  keep 
open?" 

He  did  not  feel  sure  but  the  people  of  those  coun- 
tries could  be  of  service  to  us  if  sent  from  that  way. 
He  supposes  a  case,  that  a  delegation  "should  come 
from  some  heathen  center  to  our  most  cultured  Chris- 
tian cities,  with  a  Chunder  Sen  at  their  head,  to  inquire 
the  way  of  salvation,  and  asks,  ""Where  would  they 
learn  the  true,  pure,  plain  principles  which  Jesus 
taught,  or  who  were  his  disciples  \  What  evidence 
would  be  given  them?"  A  London  journal  (quoting 
statistics  to  back  it  up)  presents  as  a  moral  paradox 
the  statement  that  the  most  poorly  paid  working  girls 
in  that  metropolis  are  those  engaged  in  the  work  of 
sewing  and  binding  Bibles.  It  adds  that  for  every 
heathen  abroad  who  can  be  induced  to  use  the  sacred 
volume  for  anything  else  than  gun  wadding,  a  dozen 
of  these  girls  are  driven  to  peredition  at  home. 

There  are  great  numbers  to  doubt  if  the  teachings 
of  these  sects  have  any  greater  morality  in  practice 
among  them  than  have  the  heathen  allowing  that 
their  theories  are  better.  An  educated  paganism  pre- 
sents peculiar  features  in  a  daily  paper  which  is  being 
published  in  Japan,  in  which  some  rather  free  criti- 
cisms are  offered  on  the  Christian  religion.  It  wants 
to  know  among  other  things,  "Whether  a  Christianity 


122  THE    LIFE    AND    LIBORS    OF 

which  allows  liquors  to  be  sold  at  every  street  corner 
and  licenses  gambling  houses,  is  any  better  than  a 
heathenism  which  simply  tolerates  these  things,  and 
asks  no  impertinent  questions  \ " 

We  mistake  in  many  respects  about  these  peoples. 
A  large  share  of  the  descriptions  given  of  them  are 
scarcely  honest  from  the  fact  that,  instead  of  relating 
things  just  as  they  are,  we  shuffle  all  the  centuries 
together  and  present  the  old  pictures  of  Grecian, 
Koman  and  Egyptian  debaucheries,  as  though  they 
were  photographs  of  existing  facts.  The  evidence, 
however,  is  constantly  accumulating  through  the 
descriptions  of  competent  and  trustworthy  travelers, 
that  their  moral  condition  is  far  better  than  is  gener- 
ally represented,  and  that  their  average  standard  of 
morals  is  not  so  much  lower  than  in  many  portions  of 
Europe  and  America. 

I  find  the  following  among  Brother  Batch's  preserved 
matters : 

Dr.  Albert  Leffin^well,  a  man  of  wide  travel  and 
fine  culture,  says,  in  The  Laws  of  Life: 

'*  Not  only  are  the  laws  better  obeyed  in  Europe  than 
with  us,  but  we  are  surpassed  by  the  people  whom  we 
are  accustomed  to  regard  as  only  half  civilized.  'Bet- 
ter not  go  down  that  street  this  time  o'  night,'  said  a 
London  policeman  to  me  one  evening,  within  sight  of 
AVestminster  Abbey;  '  it  isn't  safe  for  strangers.'  Yet 
I  have  wandered  on  foot  and  alone  throughout  the  by- 
ways of  Tokio  and  Osako  late  at  night,  without  the 
least  apprehension  of  danger,  though  surrounded  by  a 
people  who  could  hardly  understand  a  single  sentence, 
I  might  say.  Even  India,  with  a  population  the  most 
poverty-stricken  on  the  face  of  the  globe  over  which  a 
civilized   flag   floats,    is  one  of   the  most   law-abiding 


fiEV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  123 

countries  in  the  world.  In  proportion  to  numbers  com- 
prising the  population,  the  criminals  of  India  are  far 
more  often  foreigners  than  natives,  strange  as  they 
may  seem.  While  in  Bombay,  I  learned  that  the 
authorities  had  discovered  the  strange  fact  that  increase 
in  criminality  was  almost  exactly  in  proportion  to  adop- 
tion of  European  ideas.  In  other  words,  the  heathen 
were  more  law-abiding  than  the  whites  who  governed 
them." 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  once  asked  questions  like 
these : 

Do  you  know  that  in  China  there  are  2,000  colleges, 
and  that  their  libraries  outnumber  ours  ten  to  one  \ 
Do  you  know  that  in  that  country  there  are  more  than 
2,000,000  highly  educated  men,  and  that  out  of  that 
vast  population  of  100,000,000  there  is  scarcely  one  who 
cannot  read  and  write  t  Do  you  know  that  in  good 
manners,  for  which  there  is  an  ample  market  in  this 
country,  China  leads  the  world? 

We  go  to  these  foreign  countries,  carrying  our  boast- 
ful pretentions  and  rivalry  of  sects  ;  puting  ourselves  in 
a  kind  of  exceptional  independence  to  them;  mistaking 
and  traducing  their  characters  as  though  they  were  not 
combining  in  themselves  any  of  the  virtues  of  Chris- 
tianity, while  in  many  things  it  were  not  strange  if  they 
were  far  our  superiors,  and  better  behaved  than  our- 
selves. The  term  heathen  is  always  used  in  a  way  that 
implies  condescension  and  contempt.  Brother  Balch 
believed  in  missions  at  home  and  abroad,  but  saw 
many  things  to  modify  our  too  urgent  zeal  in  sending 
large  sums  of  money  away  to  the  heathen  just  now,  as  our 
people  are  circumstanced  ;  our  societies  struggling  for 
existence.  And  not  the  least  of  those  was  his  objec- 
tion to  importing  the  evils  of  Christian  dissensions  and 


121  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

sectarianisms,  and  historic  quarrels  into  those  countries. 
It  isn't  as  though  we  were  necessitated  to  go  abroad, 
because  we  cannot  spend  all  the  money  we  have  in 
educating  heathen  at  home. 

If  we  are  desirous  to  learn  respecting  Brother 
Balch's  missionary  spirit,  we  must  follow  him  up  in  his 
different  settlements  over  'churches  and  parishes,  and 
his  rambling  over  State  and  Xation.  He  was  ordained 
May  28, 1828,  and  the  next  day  found  him  on  his  way 
to  fulfill  an  appointment  in  a  distant  field,  to  which  he 
was  invited  by  a  stranger  whom  he  never  saw  before. 
He  himself  gives  this  account  of  it : 

"  The  morning  following,  I  was  standing  on  the 
piazza  of  the  house  where  we  had  been  entertained 
during  the  convention,  with  Brother  T.  J.  Sawyer,  then 
a  student  in  college,  waiting  for  the  stage  which  was 
to  take  us  to  Troy,  Avhere  we  had  planned  to  start  on 
a  tour  of  lecturing,  neither  of  us  having  money  to  pay 
our  board  for  a  week.  A  strange  gentleman  came  up 
and  addressed  Brother  Sawyer,  as  the  elder  and  better- 
looking  man,  asking  him  if  he  were  not  a  preacher.  He 
answered  him  no,  but  that  I  was.  '  Well,'  said  the 
man,  'I  have  but  a  moment  to  say  that  I  am  going  to 
JNewfane,  Yt.,  where  there  is  a  small  society  that  wants 
preaching.  I  will  take  you  over,  and  you  can  preach 
next  Sunday,  and  if  they  do  not  want  you  I  will  bring 
you  back.'  '  Go,'  said  Brother  Sawyer,  '  and  I  will  go 
to  Troy  and  stay  with  Brother  Willis  till  you  come 
back.'  'But  what  if  I  do  not  comeback?'  I  asked. 
'  Then  I  will  go  back  to  college,  and  you  go  to  work.' 
Just  then  the  stage  drove  up.  He  entered,  bade  me 
adieu,  and  I  started  off  with  a  man  I  had  never  seen, 
and  whose  name  I  did  not  learn  till  two  days  after- 
ward. We,  were  till  the  third  day  at  noon  passing  over 
the  Green  Mountains,  and  reached  Xewfane  on  Sun- 
day.    It  was  immediately  noised  about  that  Captain 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  125 

Carter  had  brought  them  a  preacher,  and  a  meeting 
would  be  held  in  the  school-house  that  evening,  on  o-oino- 
to  which  when  the  time  came,  I  found  was  crowded 
full.  You  can  depend  upon  it  that  strange  thoughts 
rushed  into  my  mind  as  I  entered  there  as  a  preacher. 
I  shall  not  try  to  tell  you  my  feelings.  I  was  devout. 
I  was  humble  and  in  earnest,  and  God  helped  me." 

It  was  here  Brother  Balch  spent  his  first  three 
months. preaching  usually  three  times  on  Sunday,  as  was 
the  custom  then  largely  in  all  parishes,  and  three  or 
four  times  during  the  week,  for  which  he  was  paid  less 
than  825  for  his  entire  services.  In  the  winter  of 
1828-29  he  went  back  to  teaching  school,  preaching 
occasionally  in  different  places,  and  continuing  his 
studies  with  Father  Loveland.  As  the  spring  returned, 
he  returned  to  Newfane,  engaging  to  preach  half  of 
the  time  at  85  a  Sunday.  The  other  portion  of  his 
time  he  preached  in  surrounding  towns,  and  in  Win- 
chester, X.  H.,  traveling  on  foot  twenty  and  forty 
miles  to  reach  appointments,  and  received  the  same 
pay  of  85  per  Sunday.  He  remained  in  these  places, 
preaching  in  nearly  every  town  in  that  region,  till  he 
married  his  wife  in  August,  1829,  and  was.  invited  to 
his  first  real  settlement  in  Albany.  X.  Y. 

He  continued  to  work  just  as  hard  in  Albany  as  he 
had  done  in  his  former  field,  and  as  he  says  ,"  not 
knowing  how  to  take  care  of  my  health,  I  became 
worn  down  with  over-exertion  and  was  obliged  to 
abandon  my  charge."  He  had  formerly  preached  at 
"VTatertown,  Mass.,  to  which  place  he  had  been  invited 
before  going  to  Albany,  and  it  so  happened  that  Dr. 
Williamson  was  having  under  consideration  the  matter 
of  settling  in   Watertown,  when    it   was   proposed   by 


126  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

Brother  Balch  that  his  friend  come  to  Albany,  and  let 
him  go  to  Watertown,  and  it  was  thus  arranged. 
Brother  Balch  would  afterward  refer  to  it  as  "A  swap- 
ping of  societies/'  After  going  to  Watertown  his  health 
somewhat  improved  for  a  time.  But  again  it  failed  and 
after  two  years  he  was  induced  to  remove  to  Clare- 
mont,  IN".  II..  in  1S32.  Dr.  Adams  to  whom  I  am  in- 
debted for  several  of  the  above  facts,  says  in  his 
"  Fifty  Notable  Years  "  that  "  he  preached  there  hall 
the  time,  and  supplied  in  Hartland  and  Springfield 
Vt..  and  Newport,  X.  II..  until  a  new  church  in  Clare- 
mont  was  finished,  and  that  here  he  was  very  actively 
employed,  not  only  as  pastor,  but  as  doing  missionary 
work  in  every  direction." 

Brother  Balch  never  knew  when  he  had  done 
enough,  or  when  to  give  himself  rest  from  his  labors. 
It  was  in  the  spring  of  1S33  that  Brother  S.  A.  Davis. 
now  of  Hartford.  Conn.,  became  a  student  in  the  home 
of  Brother  Balch.  and  he  tells  us  that  he  was  "a  vouno- 
man.  only  twenty-seven  years  old.  but  did  a  great  work 
for  our  faith  in  that  section  of  Xew  Hampshire,  and  in 
the  adjoining  towns  of  Vermont,  and  did  it  at  that  early 
day  when  the  prejudices  of  men  ran  very  high.''  He  is 
speaking  after  his  death  in  the  Gospel  Banner,  and  is 
pleased  to  add,  "  No  minister  in  our  church  had  a  larger 
share  of  my  love  and  confidence."  I  find  in  Brother 
Balch's  journal  that  he  had  "  seventeen  preaching  sta- 
tions." and  that  he  was  the  means  of  bringing  "  several 
ministers  into  the  State,  and  no  less  than  three  or  four 
into  the  ministry."  A  large  portion  of  the  time  he 
established  and  edited  the  paper  called  the  "  Impart  ial- 
ist."  writing  generously  for  it.     He  assisted  in  forming 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  127 

the  New  Hampshire  State  Convention  of  Universalists. 
A  then  present  citizen  of  Claremont,  and  a  member  of 
his  congregation,  writes  me  that  "  the  church  which 
was  dedicated  by  Brother  Balch  in  1832  was  remod- 
eled and  rededicated  in  1883,  and  that  Brother  Balch 
was  present  to  assist  in  the  exercises,  reading  the 
original  hymn  which  he  composed  for  the  first  dedica- 
tion fifty-one  years  previous." 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  reproduce  the  hymn  in  this 
place. 

To  Thee,  O  God,  who  hearest  prayer, 

This  earthly  temple  here  we  raise; 
May  we  Thy  choicest  blessing  share, 
And  dedicate  it  to  Thy  praise. 

Here  may  Thy  humble  offspring  bend, 

And  worship  Thee,  Thou  Great  Unknown; 

And  may  Thy  quenchless  love  descend, 
And  seal,  and  fit  us  for  Thine  own. 

May  we  Thy  ancient  truths  dispense, 
Thy  sacred  will  and  power  proclaim 

The  faith  once  given  to  the  saints, 
The  hope  that's  found  in  Jesus'  name. 

May  we  Thy  holy  Sabbaths  spend 

Within  these  consecrated  walls; 
And  round  this  altar  lowly  bend, 

While  Thy  good  spirit  on  us  falls. 

Here  Lord  we'll  sing,  and  preach,  and  pray, 

While  we  Thy  sanctuary  throng; 
And  when  we're  called  from  earth  away, 

In  heaven  we'll  raise  a  nobler  song. 

In  going  from  there  to  Providence,  K.  I.,  in  1836, 
his  labors  were  scarcely  lightened  in  any  respect,  for 
he  still  had  a  wide  field  in  which  he  was  constantly 
employed  outside  of  his  parish  work. 


128  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

It  was  the  same  in  all  the  years  of  his  ministry.  He 
was  very  popular,  with  hosts  of  friends,  and  was  always 
going  here  and  there  and  everywhere.  He  was  most 
truly  the  people's  friend,  and  therefore  did  they  hear 
him  gladly.  It  is  told  that  he  took  the  greatest  inter- 
est in  the  progress  of  the  cause,  and  was  reaching  out 
and  building  up  the  faith  in  every  direction.  In  a  short 
time  the  large  church  was  crowded,  and  a  second 
society  was  formed  in  the  city,  which,  because  of  the 
troublous  times  on  account  of  the  Dorr  movement,  did 
not  prosper  very  well  at  first,  but  having  survived  that 
terrible  struggle  has  moved  steadily  along  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  A  letter  from  Brother  dishing  says.  "  The 
period  of  Brother  Balch's  ministry  seems  to  have  been 
a  period  of  great  prosperity  in  the  history  of  the  old 
First  Church  and  Society.  It  was  marked  by  import- 
ant events  in  the  history  of  our  little  commonwealth, 
and  his  eager  spirit  made  him  an  important  factor  in 
the  public  concerns  of  the  day.  Leaving  here  nearly 
fifty  years  ago  he  left  a  deep  impression  upon  the  life 
of  the  parish,  and  the  life  of  this  whole  people.  He  is 
pleasantly  remembered  by  many  of  the  oldest  citizens, 
who  when  he  was  present  to  preach  for  me  on  a  recent 
date,  took  the  greatest  pains  to  listen  in  large  numbers 
to  their  friend  and  leader  of  long  ago.  I  learn  that 
during  the  years  of  his  stay  in  this  city  no  less  than 
sixty  persons  united  writh  the  church,  and  on  its  record 
to-day,  there  are  the  names  of  at  least  six  who  became 
Universalist  ministers,  and  who,  I  presume,  pursued 
their  course  of  study  for  the  ministry  with  him."  [The 
preparer  of  this  volume  being  one  of  the  number.]  He 
adds,     "You  can  imagine  that  he  kept  something  like 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVEXS    BALCH.  129 

a  primitive  theological  school  during  his  Providence 
pastorate."  And  this  was  so.  His  life  has  been  to 
train  men  in  the  ways  of  religion  and  for  the  same 
useful  and  honorable  work  to  which  his  own  many 
years  had  been  devoted.  But  little  less  than  thirty 
have  been  in  his  family  at  one  time  or  another,  seeking 
his  assistance  in  preparing  themselves  for  the  ministry. 
It  was  while  in  Providence  that  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  BrotherBalch,  in  first  hearing  him  preach 
at  Fall  River,  Mass.  I  may  be  said,  like  many  others, 
to  have  grown  up  with  a  terribly  dark  pall  hanging 
over  me,  calculated  to  embitter  my  childhood  and 
youth,  and  darken  the  whole  future  of  my  life.  Just 
about  everybody  in  those  days  shared  these  severer 
views,  which  had  been  a  chief  element  in  the  religion 
that  so  generally  prevailed.  There  was  no  such  Heav- 
enly Father  as  now  conceived  of,  who  was  an  un- 
changeable Friend,  by  whom  we  were  kept  and  blest ; 
who  loved  us,  and  loved  all  men,  with  a  boundless,  per- 
fect, everlasting  love ;  no  tender,  beneficent  Provi- 
dence, the  highest  possible  motive  and  purpose  for  in- 
finite welfare.  I  almost  hated  the  very  name  of  God, 
though  not  the  God  that  ever  lives  and  loves,  but  the 
stiff  idol  of  men's  creeds  and  worship.  The  very 
works  and  ways  of  God  had  all  been  perverted  to  me. 
I  knew  indeed  that  theology,  as  I  had  been  taught  it, 
was  an  ill-woven  tissue  of  absurdities.  I  had  heard  a 
single  Universalist  sermon  previous  to  this,  which, 
though  it  produced  something  of  an  impression  upon 
my  mind  at  the  time,  had  been  nearly  effaced  from  my 
memory.  And  it  was  left  for  Brother  Balch  in  that  first 
sermon  of  his  to  which  I  ever  listened  to  give  a  turn 


130  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

to  my  life  which  has  made  me  so  much  what  I  am,  that 
I  am  claiming  but  very  little  responsibility  for  my  re- 
ligious belief.  I  confess  to  have  been  taken  out  of  a 
slough  of  despond,  and  m}^  feet  placed  upon  that  Rock 
of  Ages  that  has  been  cleft  for  us  all,  and  is  so  much 
higher  than  we  are.  And  let  me  tell  my  readers  that 
I  would  rather  part  with  every  grateful  association  I 
have  ever  formed,  than  to  lose  from  my  soul  one  feat- 
ure or  lineament  of  that  excellent  faith  connected  with 
the  name  of  Universalism,  as  I  first  learned  it  from 
this  father  and  friend,  with  whom  I  have  lived  on  such 
intimate  terms  from  that  time  to  this. 

Let  me  try  and  summerize  the  sermon  if  I  can. 
The  text  was  I  Peter  i.  :  3-4,  "  Blessed  be  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  ac- 
cording to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us 
again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inheritance,  incorruptible, 
and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  He  said 
that  his  subject  was  the  Christian's  "hope,"  and  that 
he  should  go  to  his  text  for  all  that  he  should  attempt 
to  prove  that  evening. 

He  next  declared  that  it  was  "  a  lively  hope,"  an 
animating  and  rejoicing  hope,  and  further,  it  was  the 
hope  of  *'  an  inheritance,  incorruptible  and  undefiled, 
and  that  fadeth  not  away,"  and  that  we  were  "  begotten 
to  it  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead,"  as  the  proof  of  our  resurrection.  Notice  the 
four  points  which  he  makes:  The  Christian's  hope;  a 
lively  hope;  the  hope  of  an  inheritance,  incorruptible, 
etc.,  and  our  being  begotten  to  it  by  the  establishment 
of  the  fact  of  the  resurrection.     He  had  read  each  of 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  131 

these  right  from  his  text,  and  under  the  head  of  each 
he  had  devoted  more  or  less  extended  remarks. 

But  now  he  turns  to  notice  the  first  part  of  his  text, 
which  reads  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which,  according"  to  His  abundant 
mercy,  hath  begotten  us  to  "  this  hope.  Under  the  head 
of  God  he  shows  that  He  is  the  All  Good,  the  infin- 
itely good  Being.  And  then  He  is  the  Father,  infin- 
itely more  tender  than  any  human  parent  can  be.  And 
besides  all  this  He  is  abundant  in  mercy — which,  of 
course,  is  no  less  than  infinite — and  the  Christian's  hope 
to  which  the  God  and  Father  of  Christ  has  begotten 
us  is  according  to  this  infinite  mercy.  He  means  to 
hold  us  to  this  statement.  He  tells  us  what  a  chord  in 
music  is — that  it  is  where  the  notes  all  harmonize  to- 
gether, or  are  at  agreement  with  each  other — and  a 
discord  is  where  there  is  no  such  agreement.  He  then 
. takes  a  pair  of  scales  and  makes  use  of  them  by  which 
to  illustrate  his  subject — putting  the  Christian's  hope 
into  the  one,  and  the  infinite  mercy  of  God  into  the 
other,  making  them  exactly  balance,  so  that  the  first 
is  "  according  to  "  the  last.  Not,  mind  you,  according 
to  anything  that  is  in  us,  but  according  to  God's  in- 
finite mercy  and  fatherly  care  for  his  children.  He 
now  quotes  his  text  once  more :  "  Blessed  be  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  which,  according 
to  His  abundant  mercv,  hath  begotten  us  a^ain  unto  a 
lively  hope — by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead — to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled, 
and  that  fadeth  not  away,"  and  declares,  that  if  you 
ever  find  him  preaching  any  other  gospel  than  that  of 


132  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

Universalism — set  it  down  that  he  is  either  insane  or 
dishonest. 

I  saw  no  other  way  but  to  accept  his  conclusions, 
and  from  that  moment  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  in 
a  new  world,  with  everything  assuming  a  new  aspect. 
There  was  nothing  in  my  whole  life  but  was  entirely 
changed.  I  saw  with  new  eyes,  and  understood  with 
an  enlightened  mind.  Heaven  and  earth,  and  sea  and 
skies,  were  filled  with  evidences  of  the  unbounded  be- 
nevolence of  the  All-wise  Creator.  O,  how  my  heart 
did  bound.  It  was  the  happiest  hour  of  my  life.  I 
rose  on  mv  feet  and  shouted  it  to  the  great  conoTe^a- 
tion,  for  it  was  impossible  that  I  should  keep  from  tell- 
ing of  it.  From  that  day  to  this  it  has  been  my  joy 
and  my  hope,  the  inspiration  and  glory  of  my  being.  I 
consider  that  I  owe  it  to  Brother  Batch  that  I  am  what 
I  am  to-day,  and  it  is  out  of  my  everlasting  gratitude 
that  I  am  engaged  in  writing  the  life  of  the  man  who 
preached  that  sermon.  I  recollect  once  asking  him, 
"  Do  you  remember  that  evening?"  "Remember  it? 
"Why  it  was  one  of  the  most  startling  events  of  my  early 
life,  and  I  said  to  myself,  if  I  never  made  a  convert 
before,  I  have  made  one  now."  There  are  thousands  I 
doubt  not  in  this  land,  and  in  other  lands,  that  are 
under  like  obligation  to  Brother  Balch.  I  should  not 
dare  even  attempt  to  estimate  the  immense  amount  of 
good  he  has  been  instrumental  in  accomplishing,  in 
opening  the  blind  eyes,  and  turning  men  from  darkness 
to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  I 
deem  that  man  most  noble  of  all,  and  as  having  placed 
himself  in  the  high  role  of  honor,  who  is  trying  to  set 
good  examples,  and  do  good,  and  who  is  leading  men 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  133 

into  the  light  of  truth,  and  the  love  and  practice  of 
virtue. 

It  was  in  November,  1811,  that  Brother  Balch  went 
from  Providence  to  New  York,  and  here  again  he  was 
greatly  respected,  being  acknowledged  as  one  of  the 
first  preachers,  and  standing  as  high,  and  sought  after 
as  much,  to  assist  in  every  good  cause,  as  any  minister 
in  the  city.  He  was  a  felt  presence  in  all  that  great 
metropolis.  Dr.  Bolles,  one  of  New  York's  most  emi- 
nent preachers  at  present,  writes  me :  "Mr.  Balch  was 
a  power  in  this  city,  and  the  affection  with  which  he  is 
remembered  by  old  friends  finds  no  diminution  to  this 
day.  His  ministr}1-  was  a  great  success."  One  of  his 
successors  in  the  ministry,  settled  over  his  society  after 
twenty  odd  years,  says :  "  I  followed  him  in  the 
Bleeker  Street  Church,  and  found  that  he  had  done 
good  service,  made  many  true  and  lasting  friends,  and 
left  an  influence  in  favor  of  liberal  Christianit}T  which 
can  never  be  exhausted."  Still  another,  and  a  woman 
this  time,  wants  to  tell  us,  that  i  while  in  JSTew  York 
he  worked  hard  for  the  cause  of  religion,  and  was  a 
friend  of  the  poor,  and  held  in  greatest  esteem  by 
every  one.  He  seemed  like  a  father  to  us  all."  The 
Bleeker  Street  Church  became  at  once  very  prosperous 
upon  his  going  there.  They  were  not  only  highly 
pleased  with  him  as  preacher,  but  as  pastor  as  well,  and 
his  general  popularity  was  such  as  to  frequently  fill 
their  large  church  to  overflowing.  He  may  be 
said  to  have  always  drawn  large  and  interested 
conoTeo-ations.  Dr.  Sawver  gives  us  an  illustra- 
tion  of  his  popularity  in  the  portion  of  New  York 
where  his  church  was  located: 


134  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

"  He  was  engaged  to  deliver  a  temperance  address 
in  one  of  the  orthodox  churches  in  the  neighborhood, 
but  had  advised  the  person  having  charge  of  the  meet- 
ing that  he  had  a  wedding  to  attend,  and  could  not  be 
present  till  late,  and  he  must  keep  the  audience  patient. 
When  he  reached  the  church  it  was  packed,  and  the 
manager  was  waiting  at  the  door  for  him.  The  moment 
he  discovered  him  he  seized  and  pulled  him  through  the 

crowd,  remarking,  with  an  oath,   '  G ,  Balch,  you 

draw  like  a  blister.' " 

"If  the  parents  of  Brother  Balch,"  as  is  told  us  by 
the  before-mentioned  Judge  Adams,  "  were  always  kept 
in  humble  circumstances,  yet  what  they  despaired  of 
for  themselves  they  hoped  for  their  children.  And 
when  the  favored  son  packed  his  scanty  wardrobe  and 
went  out  from  the  old  homestead  to  try  his  hand  in  the 
great  world,  neither  the  father  nor  mother  thought  that 
the  world  had  anything  too  good  for  him,  and  they 
always  believed  that  the  world's  best  was  entirely  pos- 
sible to  him.  I  imagine,"  he  continues,  "  that  when 
the  report  came  to  the  old  Balch  homestead  that  young 
William  was  making  his  mark  as  a  preacher  in  New 
York  City,  among  the  ablest  divines  of  the  country,  the 
fond  father  and  mother  thought  that  it  was  a  mere 
matter  of  course.  Had  ever  a  young  man  gone  to  New 
York  with  a  truer  purpose,  a  warmer  zeal,  or  a  grander 
conception  of  human  destiny  ?  It  is  true  he  did  not 
carry  to  the  city  any  extensive  learning  of  the  schools. 
No  Yale  or  Harvard  had  accredited  him  with  its  di- 
ploma. But  it  is  not  probable  that  either  William  the 
son  or  Joel  the  father  wasted  any  regrets  over  that 
matter.  The  young  preacher  carried  the  learning  of 
the  heart,  and  those  graces  of  speech  which  are  born 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  135 

not  of  the  schools  of  rhetoric,  but  of  the  heartfelt  devo- 
tion to  all  that  is  noble  and  good." 

It  was  while  here  in  New  York  that  a  great  change 
came  to  him,  in  the  death  of  the  wife  of  his  early  choice, 
who.  as  a  prudent  housekeeper,  and  in  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  her  responsible  family  duties,  filled  a  large 
place  in  his  home. 

~  vr  -K-  vr  •*  X  * 

In  leaving  New  York  it  was  to  part  with  a  great 
many  friends,  and  a  good  strong  society,  in  order  that 
he  might  retire  to  a  long  desired  quiet  of  a  rural  home 
near  his  native  place.  But  here  he  worked  harder  if 
anything  than  ever  before,  for  he  was  literally  all  over 
the  State  of  Vermont  preaching  and  lecturing.  "  For 
seven  years,"  he  tells  us  "  calls  were  more  frequent  and 
numerous,  labors  more  pressing,  opportunities  for  rest 
and  study  far  less."  So  far  as  work  was  concerned,  it 
was  as  here  stated  in  every  place  in  which  Brother 
Balch  was  ever  settled.  There  was  never  any  rest  for 
him  as  long  as  he  lived. 

Let  an  old  friend  from  among  his  parishioners  at 
this  period  speak  of  him,  who  says  that  "  he  knew  him 
for  thirty  years. 

"And  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
And  named  him  but  to  praise." 

He  tells  us  that  during  his  residence  in  Ludlow  he 
"took  a  great  interest  in  temperance  and  all  public 
improvements,  especially  the  public  schools,  and  that  it 
was  largely  through  his  instrumentality  that  the  graded 
school  system  was  established  there;  that  he  represented 
the  town  in  the  Legislature  two  terms,  and  was  a  very 


136  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

efficient  member,  but  was  too  honest  in  his  own  convic- 
tions of  right  and  wrong  to  be  very  popular  among 
that  class  of  men  who  usually  control  such  bodies.  I 
thought  of  him  as  finding  always  the  better  and  ten- 
derer side  of  human  nature,  and  seeing  something  to 
admire  in  the  rough,  uncultivated  man  whom  many 
would  pass  by  unheeded.  "  Brother  Balch,"  he  contin- 
ues, "  was  greatly  beloved  by  all  classes  of  citizens,  and 
sorely  missed  when  he  left  us.  His  ministry  was  a 
benediction,  and  his  memory  will  long  be  cherished  by 
generations  to  come.  I  cannot  find  words  to  do  jus- 
tice to  the  memory  of  such  a  man,  and  so  gifted  a 
preacher,  who  was  such  a  true  and  sincere  friend,  and 
whose  life  has  been  such  a  worthy  example  for  us  all  to 
follow."  In  the  reception  given  to  Brother  Balch  in 
honor  of  the  eightieth  anniversary  of  his  birth,  there 
came  a  communication  that  "In  the  esteem  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Ludlow  parish,  none  has  a  warmer  place  in  our 
hearts,  and  none  a  warmer  welcome  in  our  homes  to- 
day, than  Brother  William  S.  Balch.  Our  best  wishes 
are  with  him." 

*  •*  vr  *  vr  ■& 

It  was  now,after  leaving  Ludlow  in  1865,that  Brother 
Balch  came  West.  He  had  long  entertained  the  idea 
of  removing  to  this  western  country,  and  talked  about 
it  from  quite  an  early  period  in  his  ministry,  so  that 
Dr.  Thayer  got  off  the  following  hit  upon  him  : 

Man  never  is,  but  always  to  be  blest, 
Balch  never  goes,  but  is  always  going  West. 

Mr.  Balch's  most  intimate  companion,  J.  C.  Have- 
meyer,  of  New  York  City,  tells  of  his  being  very  fond 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  137 

of  travel,  and  that  he  accompanied  him  with  others 
on  a  journey  to  Hennepin,  111.,  in  1842  or  1813,  when 
thirteen  constituted  their  party.  He  says.  ;*  When  on 
our  way  through  the  lakes  to  Chicago,  he  preached  on 
a  Sunday  morning  to  the  first-class  passengers  on  the 
upper  deck  of  the  steamer ;  and  in  the  afternoon  to 
the  second-class,  or  the  emigrant  passengers  on  the 
main  deck,  much  to  their  delight,  and  showed  himself 
to  be  one  of  them."  He  had  a  sister  and  family  livino- 
in  Galesburg,  and  here  he  spent  five  years  of  his  min- 
istry, from  1S65  to  IS  TO,  in  full  charge  of  a  society, 
with  much  outside  labor,  during  which  time  124  per- 
sons connected  themselves  with  the  church.  One  per- 
son writing  me  from  there,  says,  ''I  do  not  think  that 
any  too  much  can  be  said  of  him  as  a  model  pastor  for  a 
society.  As  a  neighbor  and  friend,  as  also  a  preacher,  I 
am  sure  that  I  have  never  known  his  equal."  He  at- 
tached himself  very  closely  to  the  students  of  Lom- 
bard, and  gave  them  greatest  pleasure  by  his  inter- 
esting and  instructive  manner  of  lecturing  and  preach- 
ing. He  was,  moreover,  of  important  service  to  any 
who  were  seeking  the  ministry  as  a  profession. 

From  here  he  again  retired  to  a  nice,  quiet  home, 
with  good  friends,  in  Hinsdale,  near  Chicago,  preach- 
ing and  working  as  before ;  settled  as  he  supposed  per- 
manently and  for  life.  But  an  urgent  demand  was 
laid  upon  him  to  remove  to  Elgin,  where  any  amount 
of  work  needed  to  be  done.  It  was  here  that  his  home 
was  kept,  and  his  last  days  mostly  spent,  prepared  for 
quiet  and  comfort  in  his  declining  years.  He  succeeded 
the  writer  of  this  in  IS 71.  and  for  nearly  six  years  re- 
mained pastor  of  the  society,  greatly  beloved  till  the 


138  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

Eev.  Mr.  Boynton  came,  when  he  again  thought  to  re- 
tire, with  a  visit  planned  for  himself  and  wife  to  Cali- 
fornia. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Dubuque.  Iowa,  had  lost 
their  preacher  (he  going  out  from  among  us)  and  they 
desired  that  Brother  Balch  might  come  and  supply  a 
Sunday  for  them,  and  he  accordingly  went.  Out  of 
this  grew  another  three  years'  ministry,  with  no  less 
good  effects  than  in  previous  fields.  He  retired  from 
his  labors  there  with  just  as  cordial  friends  as  any  one 
needed  to  have.  He  was  able  to  count  on  many  warm 
admirers  in  that  church,  who  were  ready  to  speak  of 
him  as  one  who  was  known  only  to  be  greatly  loved 
and  honored  as  a  faithful  friend  and  pastor.  Indeed 
he  always  made  friends  wherever  he  went,  for  he  was 
pre-eminently  a  friend  of  the  people,  and  a  friend  of 
everybody.  This  was  his  last  pastorate,  from  1S77  to 
1880,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  returned  to 
Elgin  to  remain  (with  the  exception  of  visits  made  from 
his  home  and  travels  abroad)  till  the  time  of  his  death. 
Here  he  preached  more  or  less  during  a  period  in  which 
they  were  without  a  regular  pastor,  and  officiated  at 
funerals  and  weddings  up  to  the  last. 

I  will  give  but  few  words  in  this  connection,  of  how 
his  life  was  regarded  in  Elgin,  reserving  what  farther  I 
may  say  till  I  shall  come  to  the  chapter  on  "  Home 
Life  and  Varied  Employments."  My  first  words 
are  from  the  nearest  neighbor  Mr.  Balch  had  during 
all  the  years  he  kept  his  home  in  that  city.  He  says  : 

"  I  have  lived  a  near  neighbor  to  Mr.  Balch  for  the 
past  fifteen  years,  and  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  my 
esteemed  friend.     He  was  a  true  man.     His  aim  in  life 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  139 

was  to  do  good.  He  was  an  excellent  neighbor,  and 
as  true  and  noble  a  friend  as  I  care  to  have.  He  was 
especially  a  friend  of  the  poor,  an  advocate  of  temper- 
ance in  all  things,  and  always  interested  in  every 
good  work  tending  toward  benefiting  mankind.  Such 
in  brief  is  the  man  I  delight  to  honor,  and  when  such 
a  man  is  taken  from  us  we  deeply  feel  our  loss." 

Another  testimonial  from  a  close  neighbor  (Judge 
Wilcox)  is  the  following: 

"  Brother  Balch  was  endowed  with  great  intellectual 
ability,  yet  he  was  plain  and  unpretending,  free  from 
ministerial  airs,  faithful  to  duty,  honest,  exemplary,  un- 
selfish, and  ready  to  aid  in  every  good  work.  His  clear 
exposition  of  Christ's  teachings  (with  which  he  was 
wonderfully  familiar;  and  kind  words,  have  brought 
peace  to  many  troubled  souls.  Measured  by  the  benefi- 
cent and  far-reaching  effects  of  his  labors  and  exam- 
ple as  a  preacher,  he  is  justly  entitled,  I  think,  to  rank 
as  a  good  and  great  man,  and  by  his  death  the  TJniver- 
salist  denomination  looses  one  of  its  most  successful, 
useful  and  noble  ministers.  He  was  certainly  a  manly 
man.  for  he  had  the  heart  of  a  true  man  in  him." 

I  cannot  forego  the  chronicling  of  words  so  preg- 
nant with  meaning  as  the  following,  by  Judge  Kan- 
stead,  making  a  triplet  of  names,  which  might  be  much 
added  to  if  space  did  not  forbid.     He  says  : 

"  Mr.  Balch  was  a  neighbor,  and  intimate  friend  of 
mine  for  many  years,  and  I  knew  him  well.  He  im- 
pressed me  as  being  one  of  the  ablest  and  strongest  men 
mentally  I  ever  met.  -.  Yet  he  was  very  simple  in  his 
character,  and  adapted  himself  readily  to  all  kinds  of 
societv.  and  recognized  men  of  all  callings  and  creeds  as 
brothers.  He  was  a  positive  man,  with  strong  convic- 
tions and  expressed  his  sentiments  fearlessly,  and  still 
was  charitable,  forgiving  and  kind.  To  those  who 
knew  him,  it  is  needless  to  add  that  he  was  eminentlv 


140  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

a  good  man.  He  carried  his  religion  into  his  daily  in- 
tercourse with  men,  and  lived  up  to  the  standard  of"  his 
preaching,  which  I  always  deemed  first  class.  I  think 
it  may  be  said  of  him,  as  I  have  often  heard  him  say  of 
the  Great  Master,  "  He  went  about  doing  good." 


It  has  been  objected  sometimes  that  Mr.  Balch 
preached  long  sermons  of  a  rambling  character,  and 
that  his  labors  in  being  spread  out  over  a  broad  field 
did  not  tell  effectually  for  organization.  But  I  doubt 
if  it  will  be  claimed  that  he  did  not  work  heartily  and 
untiringly  with  his  brethern,  in  all  general  methods 
for  promoting  the  cause  of  our  Zion.  He  took  the 
greatest  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  faith  always. 
His  whole  life  was  devoted  to  this  one  thing,  he  seeing 
his  way  clearly,  and  never  running  into  any  of  the 
multiplied  vagaries  of  his  time.  It  should  be  told 
that  he  was  very  active  in  helping  to  organize  the 
United  States  Convention  of  Universalists,  and  that 
while  Father  Ballou,  Brother  Streeter,  Whittemore  and 
others,  uttered  warnings  against  usurpations  of  power, 
the  claiming  of  authority  over  others,  and  the  clanger 
of  becoming  sectarian,  he  fully  believed  in  an  organ- 
ization that  should  be  wisely  adapted  to  the  end  of  the 
denominational  existence,  and  to  a  general  statement 
of  the  leading  and  distinguishing  features  of  our  faith, 
looking  to  the  law  of  growth,  but  not  to  an  inflexible 
creed,  answering  to  all  time,  and  articles  of  belief  so 
numerous  and  specific,  that  no  variety  of  opinion  could 
be  tolerated. 

There  is  no  depreciating  the  work  Mr.  Balch  did 
for  our  cause,  assisting  to  organize  societies,  and  helping 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  1-Jrl 

to  plan  churches,  and  train  ministers  for  the  service, 
almost  equal  to  any  minister  in  the  denomination.  His 
was  the  freest  form  of  religious  organization,  with 
nothing  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  He  believed  in  an 
organization  well  equipped  for  doing  all  right  things; 
just  as  he  believed  in  the  church,  that  we  might  give 
and  receive  assistance,  and  by  combined  effort  better 
do  the  work  which  the  Master  requires  at  our  hands. 
Of  course  there  is  wisdom  in  having  some  kind  of  work- 
ing plan  for  doing  everything  that  is  sought  to  be  done. 
AVho  does  not  see  the  reasonableness  of  what  another 
has  said,  that,  "  Our  work  is  to  make  Christians,  and  to 
make  churches  ;  to  multiply  our  ministry  in  numbers  and 
effectiveness;  to  cany  our  glorious  faith  to  multitudes 
who  are  losing  faith  all  for  the  want  of  it;  to  mass  and 
drill  our  forces,  and  to  march  boldly  forward  in  all  the 
socialities,  moralities,  reforms  and  philanthropies." 

It  is  to  be  understood,  however,  that  the  more  spiritual 
religion  may  not  reveal  itself  chiefly  in  conferences  and 
conventicles,  and  corporations  ;  worshiping  God  neither 
at  Jerusalem  or  Gerizim,  but  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and 
in  the  beauty  of  holiness.  And  its  progress  is  not 
always  to  be  determined  by  ceremonials,  and  statistical 
tables.  It  is  a  kingdom  that  cometh  not  so  much 
by  observation,  and  may  be  felt  more  in  being  seen  less. 
It  has  been  said  truly  that  "It  is  to  the  dissemination 
of  just  ideas,  and  to  the  bringing  of  men  into  true  life, 
that  we  are  to  look  for  the  evidence  of  real  service  on 
the  part  of  any  form  of  religion  that  claims  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world."  Great  good  is  done  in  scattering 
the  seed  of  the   kingdom   in  numberless   hearts,  even 

though  the  instrument  or  means  for  propagating  itself 
10 


142  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

is  not  seized  hold  of  and  prosecuted  with  vigor.     It  is 

so  that  the  hymn  runs: 

Sowing  the  seed  by  the  wayside  high, 
Sowing  the  seed  on  the  rocks  to  die, 
Sowing  the  seed  where  the  thorns  will  spoil, 
Sowing  the  seed  in  the  fertile  soil. 

It  was  the  silent  leavening  that  the  great-souled 
Chapin  wrought,  as  did  the  Master,  in  tempering  the 
hearts  and  passions  of  men,  and  achieving  unspeakable 
victories  over  individual  sin  and  sorrow.  It  is 
Chapin  himself  who  reminds  us  that  "  Jesus  wrote  no 
huge  volumes,  nor  framed  any  specific  laws;  but  love, 
mercy,  compassion,  tenderness,  sympathy,  good  will  to 
men:  He  kindly  taught  these  to  the  world,  sowed 
them,  precious  seed,  in  the  few  hearts  that  would  re- 
ceive them,  and  calmly  went  His  way — His  way  of 
healing  and  blessing."  And  in  this  he  made  a  defense 
of  his  own  course.  Brother  Balch's  ministry  was  of  a 
missionary  character.  He  rambled  in  sermon,  and 
travel,  and  went  everywhere,  over  State  and  Nation, 
scattering  the  seed,  and  waiting  patiently,  but  hope- 
fully, for  the  harvest  to  spring  and  grow.  Nor  did  he 
deal  in  commonplace  matters,  and  glittering  general- 
ities, as  if  attempting  to  cover  the  whole  sphere  of  duty 
in  every  sermon,  and  regenerate  society  at  large,  but 
always  had  some  definite  practical  aim,  as  when  a  great 
many  years  ago  "  The  Divine  Bevelation  of  Nature  "  as 
it  was  called,  was  producing  a  good  deal  of  a  sensation 
in  the  community,  and  he  was  to  give  the  charge  at 
the  ordination  of  Brother  Biddle.  He  did  it  after  this 
fashion :  "I  charge  }Tou  to  preach  Jesus  Christ,  and 
Him  crucified,  and  not  Andrew  Jackson  Davis,   and 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  143 

him  mesmerized.''  It  is  true  that  Dr.  Sawyer  writes 
me  that  he  "used  to  compare  him  to  a  shot-gun  which, 
as  it  scattered  broadly,  was,  therefore,  pretty  sure  to  hit 
somewhere,  while  a  rifle,  unless  very  skillfully  directed, 
was  almost  sure  to  fail." 

I  once  heard  Brother  Balch  tell  this  same  story  (I 
think  it  must  have  been),  though  somewhat  changed,  up- 
on himself.  As  it  has  been  written  out  by  another  hand, 
I  may  allow  him  to  give  it  in  his  own  manner  of  relating 
it:  He  said,  a  father  and  son  once  went  out  hunting  and. 
came  to  tree  in  which  was  a  squirrel ;  whereupon  the 
son  said,  "  Give  me  the  gun  and  I  will  bring  him  down." 
The  young  man  took  long  and  steady  aim,  but  somehow 
the  squirrel  remained  in  the  tree,  and  did  not  come 
down, when  the  father  said  to  the  son,  "Here;  you  let 
me  have  that  gun  ;  you  are  no  good  at  a  shot."  So 
the  father  took  the  gun,  but  being  afflicted  with 
shaking  palsy  it  was  difficult  to  follow  the  weapon 
with  the  eye,  so  violent  were  its  gyrations.  However, 
the  discharge  was  effected,  and  down  came  the  uncon- 
scious rodent.  "  There,"  said  the  victorious  parent,  "when 
you  want  any  shooting  done  you  can  call  on  me."  "  No 
wonder  you  killed  the  squirrel,"  replied  the  young  man, 
"for  when  anybody  takes  aim  at  a  whole  tree  at  once, 
if  there  is  anything  there  it  has  got  to  come  down." 
And  so  concluded  Brother  Balch,  whenever  I  preach  or 
lecture,  or  do  anything  else,  I  take  aim  all  over,  and  if 
there  is  any  game  anywhere  about  I  expect  to  hit  it. 
And  the  fact  is  he  generally  did  hit  it.  Now  this  we 
may  consider  his  own  answer  to  his  being  diffusive  and 
rambling,  and  not  always  connected  in  his  ideas.  His 
was  not  a  fragmentary  gospel,  and  he  had  preached  it 


ltW:  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

till  it  became  so  important  in  his  mind  that  he  wished 
to  get  the  whole  of  it  into  every  sermon,  for  he  did  not 
like  to  do  things  by  the  halves,  and  this  made  his 
sermons  frequently  long.  And  then,  too,  he  went  upon 
the  principal  of  "  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept, 
here  a  little,  and  there  a  good  deal.'" 

Of  course  his  sermons  were  oftentimes  purposely 
long.  But  I  wonder  if  he  is  the  only  man  that  ever 
did  such  a  thing  as  preach  long  sermons,  and  if  we 
who  do  this  are  sinners  above  all  those  who  dwell  at 
Jerusalem.  Why,  I  never  knew  that  there  was  any 
particular  length  for  a  sermon.  I  have  listened  to  ser- 
mons that  it  seemed  to  me  that  they  were  very  long  at 
ten  minutes,  and  then  I  have  listened  to  sermons  that 
were  short  at  two  hours.  There  is  an  old  adage  that 
says  "  Circumstances  alter  cases."'  It  is  said  of  the 
apostle  Paul,  that  on  one  occasion  he  continued  his 
preaching  till  midnight,  "and  a  certain  young  man 
seated  in  a  window  sank  down  in  a  deep  sleep  and  fell 
from  the  third  loft,  and  was  taken  up  dead."  It  depends 
very  much  on  the  question  how  important  the  subject 
is  that  is  beino-  treated  at  the  time,  and  who  is  treating 
it.  In  Brother  Balch's  generally  interesting  and  rest- 
ful manner  I  have  known  him  to  preach  well  on  to 
two  hours,  and  his  audience  reluctant  to  have  him 
stop  at  that.  I  saw  him  try  it  once,  however,  when 
but  for  three  or  four  large  persons  having  been  crowded 
into  one  seat  which  was  never  meant  to  hold  more  than 
four  common  persons,  he  might  have  got  along  well 
enough,  but  he  preached  a  whole  hour  that  time,  with 
the  house  very  warm  and  closely  packed ;  and  when 
I  supposed  that  he   was  right  at  the  point  of  saying 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  1^5 

amen,  he  struck  off  on  to  a  new  lead  and  talked  half 
an  hour  (which  to  be  sure  was  a  fit  illustration  of  what 
he  had  been  saying  before),  but  as  he  stepped  down  out 
of  the  pulpit  into  the  main  aisle  a  friend  chanced  to 
remark  to  him  that  his  sermon  was  long,  or  he  preached 
a  good  while.  "  Yes,"  he  remarked,  "  he  got  upon  the 
everlasting  gospel,"  when  a  second  remarked  "  I  thought 
as  much."  This  seemed  to  trouble  him  a  little,  for  he 
hardly  expected  the  first  remark  to  be  followed  up 
with  a  second,  which  should  drive  the  matter  home  so 
close  upon  him.  So  when  he  arrived  at  the  house  of 
this  last  lady  with  whom  he  was  to  remain  over  night, 
he  had  to  tell  a  story  to  take  off  the  point  of  her  re- 
mark, which  was  a  famous  way  he  had  of  doing  some- 
times. His  story  was  of  the  preacher  in  earlier  times, 
when  the  custom  was  to  treat  sermons  under  a  great 
number  of  heads,  and  as  he  came  to  his  eighteenthly, 
and  chanced  to  use  the  expression,  "  \Vhat  shall  I  say 
next  \  "  some  one  in  the  congregation  cried  out,  ;;  For 
God's  sake  say  amen." 

Another  story  which  he  told,  was  of  an  intemperate 
man,  who,  coming  home  in  the  evening  in  a  state  of  in- 
toxication, thought  it  necessary  that  they  have  prayers 
(as  their  custom  was)  before  retiring,  and  standing  up 
at  the  back  of  a  chair  to  sustain  himself,  he  notwith- 
standing fell  upon  the  floor  right  in  the  midst  of  his 
prayer,  and  looking  up  very  tenderly  into  the  face  of 
his  wife,  inquired  of  her  %*  If  it  hurt  her,"  and  she  an- 
swering that  it  did  not,  and  desiring  to  know  if  it  hurt 
him,  he  replied :  "  Xo,  but  it  was  a  terrible  clap." 
Brother  Balch  said  his  sermon  "  was  a  terrible  clap, 
but  it  did  not  hurt  anybody."     I  once  knew  a  minister 


146  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

to  hurry  up  a  funeral  sermon  beyond  any  decent  pro- 
priety, because  he  was  anxious  to  go  a  fishing  with 
some  young  friends.  I  would  think  that  too  short  a 
sermon.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  a  sermon  is  as  often 
made  long  b}^  the  fault  of  the  hearer  as  by  the  preacher. 
There  are  a  great  many  things  in  these  days  that  take 
people's  attention  ;  the  dinner  is  waiting,  or  there  is 
something  else  it  is  thought,  needs  to  be  done  very 
much.  I  knew  something  like  this  once  to  change  the 
location  of  a  church  from  where  it  was  first  voted  to 
have  it.  It  so  happened  that  there  was  a  card  party 
on  hand  the  same  evening  the  church  was  to  be  located, 
and  two  or  three  were  in  haste  to  get  home  to  join  in 
the  a'ame.  In  their  haste  to  leave  as  soon  as  the  vote 
was  declared,  it  was  supposed  that  they  were  offended 
at  what  had  been  done ;  that  they  wanted  the  church 
which  had  been  burned  down  located  on  the  old 
site,  which  was  very  much  nearer  the  dwelling  of  these 
two  or  three,  and  thereupon  the  vote  was  reconsidered, 
and  the  house  located  where  it  was  first  decided  not  to 
locate  it.  The  feelings  of  an  audience  is  not  always 
the  standard  forjudging  the  length  of  a  sermon. 


No  adequate  conception  of  the  character  of  Brother 
Balch  as  a  preacher  is  had,  without  considering  him  in 
the  sphere  of  a  natural-born  pulpit  orator.  He  Avas 
possessed  of  most  shining  and  brilliant  qualities,  and 
had  the  flash  and  sparkle  of  ideas,  and  a  very  superior 
quality  of  voice — clear,  rich,  mellow,  musical — which, 
with  his  natural  enthusiasm  and  earnestness  of  manner, 
not  only  gave  a  fine  effect,  but  stirred  and  thrilled  his 


KEV.  WILLIAM    BTEVEKB    BALCH.  147 

auditors  to  the  highest  pitch  of  fervent  feeling  and 
rapturous  delight.  People  delight  to  tell  of  the  music 
of  his  voice,  and  how  in  the  pulpit,  while  he  plead  for 
truth  and  goodness,  he  seemed  transfigured  with  the 
soul  of  true  eloquence.  A  great  attractiveness  of  his 
manner  as  a  speaker  lay  in  his  agreeable  intonations, 
and  in  the  deep,  spiritual  expression  of  his  voice.  And 
this,  connected  with  the  peculiar  simplicity  and  beauty 
in  which  his  thoughts  rose  and  clothed  themselves  in 
words,  established  a  perfect  communion  between  him  and 
his  hearers.  His  ideas  took  graceful  and  engaging  form, 
and  there  was  nothing  he  wrote  but  possessed  a  peculiar 
charm  which  was  certain  to  secure  for  it  attention.  It 
was  because  of  this  that  the  minds  of  the  people  were 
ever  plastic  under  his  hand,  and  he  could  mold  them 
for  the  time  being  to  almost  any  shape  required. 
They  would  hang  on  his  glowing  speech  for  hours, 
and  as  he  sat  down  there  would  be  nothing  but 
praises,  and  this  not  only  in  his  palmiest  days,  for  he 
was  "  The  old  man  eloquent. r  He  was  conspicuous  in 
any  gathering  as  soon  as  he  rose  to  speak.  You  might 
announce  him  to  address  the  people  from  any  platform 
of  our  ministers,  and  each  should  have  been  heard  for 
a  score  of  times,  and  he  would  not  suffer  in  the  number 
that  would  flock  to  hear  him.  There  was  nothing  more 
engaging  and  impressive  than  his  reading  of  a  favorite 
hymn,  and  he  would  do  it  with  such  rare  felicity  and 
power,  that  it  would  seem  equal  in  pathos  to  many  an 
unctious  sermon  preached  from  our  pulpits. 

Perhaps  I  should  make  a  distinction  here  between 
eloquence  and  oratory,  for  I  recognize  a  difference. 
An  orator,  it  has  been  said,  is  one  who  makes  a  some- 


lttS  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

what  elaborate  speech,  and  particularly  an  eloquent 
public  speaker  who  stirs  men  by  his  bursts  of  utter- 
ance, whereas  eloquence  is  the  art  of  clothing  thought 
in  an  earnest,  fluent  manner  (it  may  be  quiet  and  rest- 
ful), which  makes  it  effective  with  the  hearer.  Some- 
body has  described  eloquence  as  "  the  utterance  of  great 
truths,  so  clearly  discerned,  so  deeply  felt,  so  bright  and 
so  burning,  that  they  can  not  be  withheld,  and  that 
they  create  for  themselves  a  style  and  manner  which 
carry  them  far  into  other  souls."  It  is  this  same 
thought  that  the  poet  has  expressed  in  the  lines  which 
follow : 

Eloquence  is  the  deep,  impassioned  fervor 

Of  a  mind  deep  fraught  with  native  energy, 

When  soul  and  sense  burst  forth  embodied 

In  the  burning  thought; 

When  look,  emotion,  tone,  are  all  combined; 

When  the  whole  man  is  eloquent  with  mind; 

A  power  that  comes  not  at  the  call  or 

Quest  of  vice,  or  of  ignoble  birth, 

But  from  the  gifted  soul,  and  the  deep-feeling  breast. 

The  Saviour  was  most  impressive  and  persuasive  in 
address.  He  spoke  with  a  commanding  power  of  au- 
thority— "spake  as  never  man  spake" — and  yet  I  do 
not  know  that  ever  any  one  thought  to  call  Him  an 
orator.  A  person  might  be  eloquent  in  common  con- 
versation, but  it  would  never  be  said  of  such  an  one  that 
he  was  an  orator.  The  Christian  Union  seems  to  me 
to  have  rightly  distinguished  in  what  it  has  recently 
said,  that  "  an  art  which  rises  by  natural  climax  out  of 
the  conversational  mood  into  lyric  earnestness  and 
beauty  is  superior  to  the  more  stately  and  ornate 
model  which  so  often  passes  for  eloquence." 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  149* 

And  I  will  say  that  I  have  beard  Mr.  Balch  when 
be  would  be  speaking  in  the  most  natural,  easy  manner,, 
and  he  would  commence  to  warm  up,  and  would  rise 
higher  and  higher  in  the  pathos  of  his  subject,  till  it 
seemed  as  if  he  was  perfectly  inspired,  and  his  audience- 
would  rise  and  cling  to  him,  till  thev  were  obliged  to 
stop  and  catch  their  breaths.  I  claim  nothing  for  him 
of  studied  oratory  as  in  the  schools,  but  for  real,  fervid,. 
pulpit  eloquence,  I  can  not  think  him  excelled  by  any 
other  person  I  ever  listened  to.  Persons  may  smile  at 
what  I  am  saying,  but  I  must  be  allowed  my  own  opin- 
ion, and  I  speak  as  my  heart  prompts,  and  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  say,  that  no  one  has  ever  moved  me  more  than 
he,  when  in  his  best  moods  words  of  kindling  energy 
have  poured  forth  from  his  lips  like  a  mountain  torrent, 
swaying  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  like  a  mighty  rushing 
wind. 

And  I  am  not  alone  in  what  I  am  saying.  People- 
tell  me  of  having  heard  others  speak  who  were  called 
the  world's  greatest  orators,  but  have  never  felt  the 
power  of  eloquence  as  sometimes  at  the  speaking  of  Mr. 
Balch.  Dr.  Emerson  says:  "  I  first  heard  him  speak 
nearly  fifty  years  ago,  at  the  Akron  United  States- 
Convention,  when  my  youthful  ears  got  the  secret  of 
his  success.  He  was  in  look,  bearing  and  manner  every 
inch  the  orator."  A  person  hearing  him  in  Chester, 
Vt.,  in  1870,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visiting  that  place, 
says,  "  I  would  be  glad  to  give  a  synopsis  of  this  brill- 
iant discourse,  for  I  have  never  listened  to  anything- 
delivered  from  any  pulpit  in  the  town  that  would  equal 
in  eloquence,  in  lofty  sentiment,  pure  logic,  and  scho- 
lastic  ability,  what  I  heard  Sundav  evening,  and  I  be- 


150  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

lieve  all  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  be  present  would 
fully  endorse  my  statement.  He  is  unquestionably  one 
of  the  ripest  and  most  gifted  orators  of  modern  days." 
Permit  me  to  quote  once  more  and  this  time  from 
the  Vermont  Standard,  published  at  Woodstock,  that 
State.     The  editor  is  speaking,  and  he  says : 

"Mr.  Balch  was  a  native  of  the  adjoining  town  of  An- 
dover,  and  always  made  it  a  point  to  visit  his  old  acquain- 
tances, and  what  few  distant  relatives  lived  there,  when- 
ever he  came  to  Vermont.  On  such  occasions  he  never 
failed  to  preach,  and  such  preaching  (as  we  venture  to 
say)  will  never  be  heard  again  in  that  rock-bound  town 
to  the  very  end  of  time.  As  an  extemporaneous  speak- 
er, but  few,  if  any,  could  excel  him.  He  always 
appeared  humble  and  wholly  devoid  of  pride,  and  in 
the  devotional  part  of  pulpit  exercises  (if  such  are 
proper  subjects  of  comment)  we  think  no  person  on 
•earth  could  be  happier.  It  was  truly  a  benediction  to 
listen  to  his  soul-satisfying  orisons.  It  was  our  privi- 
lege to  be  present  on  the  occasion  of  one  of  these  visits, 
not  very  long  after  he  had  buried  his  first  companion, 
.and  vividly  recalling  the  fact  that  not  a  few  of  his 
former  associates  had  also  gone  up  higher,  he  was  sen- 
sibly affected  ,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  hindering  the 
richest  flow  of  subdued  eloquence  we  ever  listened  to, 
•either  before  or  since  that  time.  This  is  saying  very 
much,  as  Ave  are  well  aware,  for  we  have  heard  about 
as  gifted,  and  eloquent  pulpit  orators  as  this  country 
has  produced,  but  we  cannot  alter  our  estimate  not- 
withstanding all  this.'' 

Brother  Balch  never  could  preach  a  written  sermon 
in  what  we  would  call  a  half  decent  way,  for  he  wanted 
to  be  allowed  to  go  off  in  those  flights  occasionally 
that  would  raise  you  right  off  your  feet,  and  he  felt 
hampered,    much   as   if   you   had   him    pinioned   in  a 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    LALCH.  151 

straight-jacket.  And  I  think  this  accounts  for  the 
reason  of  his  being  sought  after  to  go  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  preach  and  lecture,  and  attend  funerals  and 
weddings  in  greatest  number.  He  may  be  said  to  have 
gone  almost  everywhere,  preaching  in  school-houses, 
churches,  hails  and  dwellings  :  in  barns  and  groves  and 
fields:  on  the  sea  and  on  the  land;  wherever  people 
could  be  gathered  to  hear  the  word,  and  be  benefited 
and  blessed  with  the  great  salvation,  ever  "  ready  to  give 
a  reason  for  the  hope  that  was  in  him,  with  meekness 
and  fear." 

It  fell  to  him  to  officiate  at  a  great  number  of 
funerals,  and  his  consoling  words  on  all  such  occasions 
have  done  not  a  little  in  bringing  him  nearer  to  the 
hearts  of  many  persons.  It  is  worthy  of  mention  his 
being  called  on  one  occasion  where  the  husband  had 
committed  the  dreadful  deed  of  violently  killing  his  wife 
and  then  taking  his  own  life.  He  left  his  home  with 
no  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  being  related  to 
him.  and  proceeded  on  his  way  till.  Hearing  the  place 
where  the  funeral  was  to  be  attended,  the  full  particu- 
lars of  the  strange  event  were  narrated.  He  had  no 
time  left  for  any  careful  preparation  to  meet  the  great 
responsibility  that  was  so  suddenly  thrust  upon  him. 

As  he  reached  the  house  a  large  concourse  of  horri- 
fied people,  of  all  persuasions  had  gathered,  watching, 
and  wondering  what  disposition  was  to  be  made  of  a 
case  like  the  one  in  hand.  How  was  the  minister  to 
get  along  successfully  this  time  without  meeting  with 
a  terrible  discomfiture  of  his  creed  (  The  calmest  one 
of  them  all  was  Mr.  Baich.  for  he  knew  in  whom  was  his 
trust.     He  selected  for  his  text  the  tenth  chapter  of  Jer- 


153  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

emiah,  and  the  last   c  .  the  twenty-third  verse.  "  It 

is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps."  We  are 
left  to  imagine  in  part  what  the  discourse  was  from  what 
it  naturally  would  be  from  such  a  text,  and  such  a 
preacher  as  we  have  known  him  to  be.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  lie  told  them  what  a  weak  and  fallible  creature 
man  was.  that  there  never  had  been  but  the  one  perfect- 
one,  and  how  we  often  had  to  wonder  why  our  lot  has 
been,  to  1 >e  led  in  such  ways  as  we  are  led:  that  the  sins 
we  all  of  us  actually  commit  are  of  a  character  to  de- 
mand the  utmost  of  compassion  from  our  fellow-men 
as  well  as  from  Him  who  is  the  God  of  infinite  purity 
and  perfection.  He  instanced  Paul  in  his  great  sin  of 
breathing  out  threatening  and  slaughter  against  the 
Christians,  compelling  them  to  blaspheme,  and  when 
they  were  put  to  death  giving  his  voice  against  them, 
and  how  little  lie  had  to  do  with  the  being  arrested  in 
his  course.  Were  it  not  for  the  underlying  providence 
of  Him  whose  thoughts  of  kindness  toward  us  are  in- 
finite, we  do  not  know  into  what  dark  paths  we  might 
wander.  It  is  God's  infinite  mercy  that  is  holding  us, 
as  it  were,  every  one  of  us.  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand. 
and  but  for  it  what  wretched  creatures  we  all  should 
be.  It  was  true  that  many  of  the  ways  of  Providence 
were  dark  and  mysterious  to  us.  and  the  heart  grew 
weary  at  times  over  these  vexed  problems  of  life,  but 
it  would  seem  by  reflecting  upon  the  indulgence  we  de- 
sire for  our  own  short-comings  we  might  refrain  from 
judging  others  of  our  brethren  too  severely:  for  was  it 
not  enough  that  all  the  innocence  and  peace  of  the  vi- 
cious had  fled,  without  their  being  obliged  to  endure  the 
rough  censure  of  those  who  shared  a  happier    fate  '( 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVEN-    BAD  II.  153 

Why  should  we  not  allow  our  own  desires  for  ourselves 
to  measure  to  others  the  debt  of  love  that  is  due  them. 
Could  we  not  well  afford,  in  our  own  short-sighted  un- 
derstandings, to  leave  those  who  go  from  us,  in  the 
hands  of  God,  in  the  assurance  that  He  is  competent  to 
take  care  of  them,  that  each  going  to  his  proper  place, 
the  place  that  heaven  has  designed  for  him,  he  goes 
to  the  best  place  there  is  for  him  '.  And  shall  we  not  rest 
in  the  confidence,  that 

Blind  unbelief  is  sure  to  err, 

And  scan  his  work  in  vain; 
God  is  His  own  interpreter, 

And  He  will  make  it  plain. 

It  was  evident,  that  when  that  large  audience  re- 
turned to  their  homes  they  found  nothing  to  cavil 
about.  The  preacher  had  won  upon  the  hearts  of  all, 
and  spoken  words  that  every  one  felt  to  respond  to. 

And  so  it  was  always  with  him.  People  were 
greatly  interested  in  his  matter  and  manner.  They 
would  go  greatest  distances  to  hear  him  preach  one  of 
his  commonest  sermons,  and  no  one  ever  heard  him 
once  but  they  were  anxious  to  hear  him  again  and 
again.  They  have  said  to  us,  that  he  was  the  most  in- 
structive preacher  that  ever  they  heard  ;  that  he  was 
always  saying  something  that  made  it  profitable  to  lis- 
ten to  him,  and  they  did  it  with  the  heartiest  delight. 
They  will  tell  you  of  having  met  him  only  once  or 
twice  in  their  lives,  and  how  they  were  impressed  with 
his  wonderful  gifts,  and  the  almost  exhaustless  fount- 
ains from  which  he  drew  to  instruct,  and  gladden  and 
comfort  his  auditors.  He  came  to  be  so  widely  known 
at  last  that  he  could  scarcelv  go  anywhere  but  he  was 


151  KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

warmly  greeted.  It  would  be  impossible  to  recall  the 
number  of  times  when  traveling  on  cars,  and  mention- 
ing Elgin,  the  question  would  be  asked  me,  "Do  you 
know  Brother  Balch?  He  married  me,  or  he  attended 
the  funeral  of  some  member  of  my  family,  or  my 
father's  family."  And  when  I  would  tell  them  my  long 
acquaintance,  and  intimate  relations  with  him,  it  would 
be  to  make  answer,  "  Well,  do  please  give  him  my  best 
regards."  Everywhere  it  has  been  our  lot  to  go  since 
entering  the  Universalist  fellowship,  eyes  have  bright- 
ened and  countenances  have  lighted  up  at  the  mention 
of  his  name.  Surely,  a  faithful,  unselfish  ministry  has 
its  compensations. 

Well,  Brother  Balch  has  gone,  and  has  'done  his 
preaching  here  on  the  earth.  His  last  sermon  was 
preached  in  Galesburg,  111.,  on  the  25th  of  September, 
1887,  where  he  went  to  attend  the  wedding  of  his 
grand-niece  the  Thursday  before.  He  was  ever  faith- 
ful as  a  minister,  and  could  say,  as  he  laid  off  the  har- 
ness (only  as  he  never  did  lay  it  off),  "  I  have  finished 
my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  I  have  received 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God.  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of 
my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight ; 
I  have  finished  my  course  ;  I  have  kept  the  faith  ;  hence- 
forth there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness," 
conferring  upon  him  the  undying  honors  of  the  Chris- 
tian name;  enabling  him  to  live  in  the  affections  of  all 
good  people,  with  a  halo  of  glory  that  shall  encircle  his 
fame  as  long  as  any  memory  of  our  cause  shall  exist  or 
any  wholesome,  helpful  thing  shall  be  done. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


SOCIAL   AND    SYMPATHETIC   QUALITIES    AS   A    PASTOR. 

MR.  BALCH  was  of  a  wonderfully  social  nature, 
and  always  entertaining  in  conversation.  He 
would  in  the  shortest  time  attract  attention,  and  gather 
around  him  those  who  were  delighted  with  his  instruc- 
tive communications  and  charming  address.  His  ready 
talent  made  him  conspicuous  in  any  community,  while  his 
modest  simple  manner,  so  earnest  and  sincere,  won  our 
hearts  at  once,  and  we  felt  drawn  to  him  with  an  unusual 
degree  of  affection  and  the  kindest  confidence.  Beino- 
in  his  social  relations  without  reproach,  respected, 
beloved  and  honored  by  all  who  knew  him,  without 
the  least  effort  on  his  part,  or  thought  of  becoming  so, 
he  could  not  help  being  the  center  of  any  circle  in 
which  he  moved.  Amiable  in  his  intercourse  with  his 
fellow  men;  respectful  of  the  rights  and  feelings  of 
others,  and  attentive  to  all  who  had  claims  upon  him, 
he  stood  high  as  neighbor,  citizen,  friend  and  brother; 
and  no  one  shared  in  a  larger  happiness  of  friends  and 
friendships  than  did  he.  None  could  boast  a  closer 
attachment  to  his  kind,  and  yet  he  employed  no  arts 
for  winning  their  friendship.  He  always  made  friends 
wherever  he  went,  for  he  could  be  counted  as  anions 
the  foremost  helpers  of  the  world's  joys.     There  was 

155 


156  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

right-heartedness  and  kindliness  of  feeling,  which  served 
as  links  of  affection  and  made  him  regardful  of  the 
necessities  of  friends  and  foes.  He  was  large-minded, 
generous  and  liberal,  and  believed  that  pure  spiritual 
friendship.  Christian  love,  was  the  essential  to  make 
.society  what  it  should  be,  as  desirable  and  as  happy. 
It  did  seem  as  though  he  was  loving  towards  every  one ; 
and  sympathy  was  about  the  first  and  last  thing  in  his 
character. 

There  are  those  who  love  themselves  so  inordinately 
that  they  have  but  little  regard  for  those  about  them ; 
but  the  whole  lead  of  Brother  Baleh's  religion  was  in 
the  direction  of  humanity,  for  he  could  not  understand 
how  he  who  "loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath 
seen,  could  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen."  There 
was  thoughtfulness  and  kind  consideration,  which 
made  him  throw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  work 
of  instructing,  consoling  and  relieving  his  fellow  creat- 
ures of  eveiy  earthly  woe,  exerting  his  utmost  effort 
to  help  them  in  all  ways,  socially,  morally  and  spirit- 
ually. All  duty  with  him  implied  a  practical  goodness 
on  his  part,  the  neglect  of  which  could  not  be  atoned 
for  by  any  mere  excess  of  feeling,  or  show  of  zeal,  or 
strictness  of  formal  observance,  that  did  not  tend  to 
that  result;  that  did  not  go  to  increase  the  sum  of  bless- 
ing, virtue  and  happiness  in  the  world.  It  was  to  him 
a  joy  unspeakable  to  be  found  among  his  fellow  men, 
making  efforts  to  reclaim  them  from  their  vices ;  to 
alleviate  as  much  as  possible  their  sufferings  and  their 
sorrows;  to  enlighten  their  ignorance,  and  to  raise 
them  up  to  a  virtuous,  a  holy  and  happy  condition. 
Whether  it  be  strictly  true  or  not    (as  some  one  has 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  157 

remarked)  that  to  be  saints  we  must  live  among  saints, 
Brother  Balch  believed  it  to  be  true,  that  to  .be  men, 
fully  developed,  whole  Christian  men,  we  must  live 
among  men — and  there  was  no  good  cause  engaged  in 
for  the  furtherance  and  promotion  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness and  human  happiness  in  the  earth  but  met 
with  his  ready  and  hearty  sympathy,  and  if  anything 
was  to  be  clone,  his  hearty  co-operation.  Oh,  to  have 
a  heart  full  of  love  to  kindred  humanity;  to  feel  for  it 
in  its  lowest  estate;  to  bend  in  sympathy  with  the  op- 
pressed, the  meanest  and  humblest  child  of  sorrow;  to 
have  a  mind  eager  always  to  think  right  concerning 
the  unfortunate  of  our  fellowmen;  and  a  brothers  hand 
to  stretch  out  in  mercy,  ever  ready  and  desirous  to 
labor  for  the  ignorant  and  degraded,  the  suffering  and 
the  lost;  is  a  great  thing.  It  constitutes  the  only  true 
greatness  of  humanity,  and  the  almost  unexampled 
glory  of  Christianity.  And  Brother  Balch  had  this 
heart  in  him  to  sympathize  with  all  suffering  ones ;  to 
weep  with  those  that  weep,  and  to  rejoice  with  those 
that  rejoice. 

We  too  of  cen  narrow  down  our  sympathies  to  a  cer- 
tain small  set  of  exclusive  ideas,  but  he  had  a  large  con- 
geniality witheveiy  class  of  minds,to  enroll  them  within 
his  Sympathies,  as  though  born  with  him,  under  the 
same  roof,  and  never  thought  he  was  losing  an  immacu- 
late reputation  for  character,  by  practicing  the  gospel 
of  brotherhood. 

We   do  not   think  of   it  enough,  that  Christianity 

seeks  to  establish  such  a  principle  of  goodness  in  every 

individual  heart  that  it  shall  be  ever  ready,  impelled 

from  no  motives  from  without,  but  only  by  the  work- 

11 


15S  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

ings  of  a  true,  loving  nature,  to  seize  all  the  opportu- 
nities for  doing  good  that  offer  themselves  daily  and 
hourly  in  the  experience  of  every  human  being.  You 
may  think  this  not  a  very  important  matter,  but 
human  happiness  is  an  aggregate  of  little  satisfactions 
and  enjoyments,  and  the  good  which  we  can  do  each 
other  is  the  sum  of  numberless  little  attentions  and 
kind  offices,  which  for  the  very  reason  that  they  are 
small  and  common,  and  frequently  called  for  in  the 
familiar  intercourse  of  life,  are  likely  to  be  omitted. 
But  let  no  one  say  that  he  cannot  speak  some  kind  word, 
or  perform  some  kind  act,  which  shall  find  an  entrance 
into  the  comfortless  heart,  and  bless  him  that  gives, 
and  him  that  takes.  lie  can,  if  he  will,  and  he  certainly 
will,  if  he  shall  reflect  but  for  a  moment  on  God's 
great  purpose  in  sending  him  into  the  world. 

Being;  of  a  warm  social  nature,  Brother  Balch  took 
this  practical  view  of  things,  regarding  everything  with 
reference  to  its  uses;  to  the  more  sensible  and  whole- 
some purposes  of  life.  And  Christianity  found  his  heart 
chiefly,  as  it  gave  energy  and  direction  to  those  princi- 
ples and  affections  which  render  us  useful  men  and 
women,  sincere  friends,  earnestly  devoted  to  each 
other's  welfare. 

Many  a  man  goes  through  the  world  giving  scarcelv 
one  bright,  cheerful,  encouraging  word,  taking  no  pains 
to  lighten  the  burdens  of  any  soul,  but  he  sought  to 
enter  into  relations  of  love  and  good-will  with  every 
one,  and  it  gave  him  a  cheerful  welcome  in  all  society. 
It  was  his  constant  wonder  that  there  should  be  those 
to  take  so  little  interest  in  that  which  promises  to  be 
of  service  to  the  race,  and  neglect  the  calls  of  humanity 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  159 

in  laboring  for  the  good  of  their  fellow-men.  He  could 
not  see  how  they  could  behold  all  the  terrible  evils  that 
bind  down  and  destroy  the  souls  and  bodies  of  our  kin- 
dred, and  yet  remain  indifferent, their  hearts  unimpressed 
and  they  unconscious  of  the  spirit  by  which  they  are 
made  to  feel  it  their  dutv  to  strive  for  the  blessing  of 
their  brethren  and  their  kindred.  "We  think  of  him 
with  sympaties  so  true  and  responsive,  with  helpfulness 
so  great  and  charity  so  broad  that  we  will  not  allow 
any  other  to  hold  a  deeper  place  in  our  heart  of  hearts. 
His  presence  was  a  blessed  benediction,  and  his  wel- 
come tread  was  ever  heard  Avhere  was  darkest  grief  and 
ano-uish.  Distress  never  failed  to  find  an  answering 
voice  in  his  heart.  AVoe  enlisted  all  his  feelings,  and 
he  ever  delighted  to  assuage  human  grief.  He  hushed 
the  sigh  of  despair  in  the  bosoms  of  the  sorrowful,  and 
gave  unto  them  "  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for 
mourning,  and  the  garments  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 
heaviness."  He  was  ever  sought  after  both  far  and 
near  in  that  supremest  moment  when  life  had  become 
extinct,  or  when  it  was  found  hanging  by  a  slender 
thread,  showing  that  the  silver  cord  was  to  be  loosed 
and  golden  bowl  broken.  It  may  be  truly  said  of  him 
as  was  said  of  that  singularly  upright  personage,  given 
us  in  that  partly  allegorical  story  of  the  life  of  Job, 
putting  words  into  his  own  mouth  for  him  to  say  them, 
"  When  the  ear  heard  me  then  it  blessed  me  ;  and  when 
the  eye  saw  me  it  gave  witness  to  me,  because  I  deliv- 
ered the  poor  that  cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and  him 
that  had  none  to  help  him.  The  blessing  of  him  that 
was  ready  to  perish  came  upon  me,  and  I  caused  the 
widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy.    I  was  eyes  to  the  blind, 


160  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame.  I  was  a  father  to  the 
poor,  and  the  cause  I  knew  not  I  searched  out." 

The  heart  of  Brother  Balch  was  full  of  pity  be- 
cause he  loved,  and  he  loved  because  underneath  all 
that  was  dark,  and  strange  and  dreadful,  he  saw  that 
which  was  to  be  loved ;  and  notwithstanding  the  mys- 
teries and  shadows,  the  misfortunes  and  struggles,  the 
unrequited  toils  and  bitter  tears,  that  make  up  so  much 
of  human  life  ;  there  was  that  which  was  capable  of 
being  developed  into  everlasting  good. 

And  so  it  was  that  the  orphan  found  in  him  a 
father;  the  widow  and  the  aged  a  support,  and  the 
stranger  a  hospitable  friend.  And  the  afflicted — he 
could  speak  to  them  in  those  affectionate  terms  that 
temper  the  bitterness  of  tears.  There  are  no  sufferings 
which  s}Tmpathy  will  not  soothe.  All  the  sorrows  of 
life  are  dissipated  by  the  rays  of  fraternal  love  as  the 
frosts  of  winter  are  melted  by  the  rising  sun  of  morn. 

We  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than  by  intro- 
ducing the  very  beautiful  and  appropriate  poem  of  Mrs. 
Caroline  A.  Soule,  tendered  on  the  occasion  of  the  cel- 
ebration of  the  eightieth  anniversary  of  his  birthday ; 
and  in  which  she  tells  how  Mr.  Balch  came  to  her  home 
shortly  after  her  husband's  death,  when  she  knew  him 
only  by  name,  and  when  her  heart  was  so  near  to  break- 
ing that  she  could  not  shed  a  tear  ;  and  what  a  God- 
send it  was  to  her.     The  title  of  it  was  : 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  161 

A    TENDER,     REVERENT     MEMORY. 


REV.  WM.   S.   BALCH.  1S52 


My  life  was  in  its  summer  time, 

Blossoms  over,  fruitage  rare, 
And  all  the  bells  did  sweetly  chime 

Upon  the  scented,  golden  air; 
Bells  of  bridal,  bells  of  birth, 

Sweetest  bells  upon  the  earth, 
And  my  heart  was  keeping  time, 

To  the  joy  bells'  chime  ! 

My  life  was  in  its  summer  time, 

Ripest  fruit  within  my  hand, 
"When  suddenly  the  bells  did  chime 

Saddest  tones  in  all  the  land; 
Tones  of  sorrow,  tones  of  death, 

Tones  that  hushed  my  joyous  breath, 
And  my  heart  kept  dirge-like  time 

To  the  sad  bells'  chime  ! 

Then  quickly  came  the  winter  time 

With  its  storms  and  snow; 
And  all  the  bells  did  sadly  chime, 

In  tones  of  weary  woe: 
Bells  of  dying,  bells  of  biers, 

Saddest  bells  to  loving  ears, 
And  my  heart  was  keeping  time 

To  the  death  bells'  chime  ! 

Tears  I  could  not  shed,  O  no, 

All  too  sudden  was  the  woe  ! 
Like  a  frost  in  June  it  fell, 

The  wild  ringing  of  that  bell  ! 
All  my  life  seemed  gone  and  dead, 

Buried  in  that  cold,  white  bed. 
All  my  summers  seen  ed  now  spent, 

"Why,  O  why,  was  death  thus  sent  ? 

To  my  home  a  friend  then  came, 

One  I  only  knew  by  name  ; 
He  had  loved  the  one  now  sleeping, 

And  for  him  was  softly  weeping  ; 
Now  he  came  and  sat  by  me, 

Took  my  children  on  his  knee, 
"Whispered  words  that  seemed  a  prayer, 

As  they  thrilled  the  saddened  air  ! 


IQ2  THE    LIFE    AND    LAB0KS    0F 

And  from  out  the  winter  skies 

Something  seemed  to  fall  on  me, 
Something  touched  my  burning  eyes 

Till  the"  tears  flowed  soft  and  free  ; 
O  those  tears  !     They  washed  away 

The  stern  sorrow  of  that  day  ! 
O  those  tears  !     They  made  me  whole, 

Healed  my  broken,  widowed  soul ! 

Still  he  to  the  children  spoke, 

Words  of  praise  and  words  of  prayer, 
Till  the  mother  in  me  woke 

And  I  took  the  cross  of  care  ; 
Took  it  with  a  reverent  hand, 

Saddest  mother  in  the  land, 
And  I  said,  amidst  my  tears, 

"  They  will  brighten  future  years." 

Still  he  held  the  children  dear, 
Still  he  spoke  in  sweet,  low  tone; 

And  from  out  my  heart  stole  fear, 
And  I  felt  no  more  alone, 

' '  These  my  comforts  now  will  be  ! 

0  my  Father,  I  thank  Thee 
That  I  have  this  cross  of  care  ; 

All  I  ask  is  strength  to  bear; 
Strength  to  bear  all  thou  dost  send, 
Strength  to  bear  unto  the  end  !  " 

Years  have  come,  and  years  have  fled, 
Since  I  mourned  the  early  dead, 

Since  that  friend  came  there  to  me, 
Took  my  children  on  his  knee, 

And  such  words  of  comfort  spoke 
That  the  mother  in  me  woke, 

That  the  sorrow  grew  so  still 

1  was  strong  to  do  God's  will  ! 

Precious  friend  !     In  all  this  land 

Lives  no  dearer  one  to  me, 
And  I  give  you  heart  and  hand 

In  tender^  reverent  memory  ! 
In  memory  of  the  day  you  came, 

When  I  only  knew  your  name; 
Came  unto  my  house  of  woe, 

Came  amidst  the  drifting  snow, 
Took  my  children  on  your  knee, 

Whispered  words  thatstrenghened  me, 
Words  of  comfort,  words  of  prayer, 

Words  that  thrilled  like  music  rare  ! 


REV.  WILLIAM   STEVENS    BALCH.  163 

I  see  you  now.  my  friend  so  dear, 

See  you  'midst  a  falling  tear, 
Little  children  on  your  knee  ! 

Sweet,  O  sweet  this  memory  ! 
It  will  ever  stay  with  me — 

A  tender,  reverent  memory  ! 

That  Mrs.  Soule  could  say  this  of  him  is  no  small 
praise.  And  who  shall  claim  that  it  was  not  all  mer- 
ited ? 


CHAPTER  X. 

SERMONS  AND    EXTRACTS. 

For  so  easy  and  voluminous  a  writer  as  Mr.  Balch 
it  can  not  be  claimed  for  him  that  the  number  of 
his  published  sermons  was  great.  His  thought  was 
never  to  get  himself  noticed  by  parading  himself  or  any 
effort  of  his,  before  the  public,  and  preaching  extempo- 
raneously, with  fewer  reporters  in  earlier  days,  his  ser- 
mons were  not  made  ready  for  the  hands  of  the  printer. 
He  wrote  more  as  duty  seemed  to  impel,  or  admonish 
him  to  do  so  ;  and  hence  what  he  wrote  was  generally 
of  a  somewhat  grave  and  consequential  character. 
Among  the  most  notable  of  his  sermons,  are  :  "  Univer- 
salism  :  Its  Rise  and  Progress  in  this  Country;  What 
It  Has  Done,  and  Is  Doing  to  Liberalize  the  World." 
"What  Jesus  Taught";  "What  of  the  Future  Life"; 
"  Are  there  Creeds  and  Sects  in  Heaven?"  "  Forty 
Years  in  the  Ministry";  "  The  Pastor's  Duty";  "Broth- 
erly Admonition."  "A  Sermon  for  Professed  Chris- 
tians." 

Most  of  the  texts  are  quite  suggestive.  "  Forty 
Years  in  the  Ministry,"  the  text  is,  "  And  thou  shalt 
remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led 
thee  these  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  thee, 
and  prove  thee ;  to  know  what  is  in  thy  heart,  whether 
thou  wouldst  keep  his  commandments  or  no." 

164 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    EALCH.  165 

From  three  or  four  of  them  I  am  selecting  the 
most  important  parts,  which  is  nearly  equivalent  to 
giving  the  substance  of  them. 

The  first  of  the  above  mentioned,  preached  before 
the  Illinois  State  Convention  in  the  last  years  of  70, 
has  this  text,  "Everyone  that  hath  this  hope  in  him 
jwrifieth  himself  even  as  lie  (Jesus)  is  pure"  He  starts 
out    with   a   statement   as    to    what  Universalism   is: 

"The  most  distinct  and  common  idea  of  Universalism 
is  a  belief  in  the  final  salvation  of  all  men.  This  def- 
inition is  correct,  if  it  be  understood  to  include  all  the 
means  by  which  that  most  desirable  end  is  to  be  at- 
tained. 'JNone  but  those  who  would  purposely  mis- 
represent, would  for  a  moment  think  any  reasonable 
men  would  assert  or  entertain  a  thought  that  such  a 
result  could  be  attained  without  the  adequate  means 
and  methods  to  produce  it.  Universalists  accept  and 
emphatically  assert  the  fact  that,  "  without  holiness  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord."  They  know  that  sin  involves 
punishment,  and  they  believe  that  so  long  as  sin  exists 
punishment  will,  of  necessity,  be  inflicted;  that  only 
where"  sin  is  finished,  transgression  ended  and  ever- 
lasting righteousness  brought  in  "  will  sin  and  sorrow 
cease  and  the  world  be  saved.  They  believe  God  de- 
sired, purposed,  planned,  willed  such  a  result,  and  sanc- 
tified and  sent  his  Son  into  the  world  not  to  condemn 
it,  but  to  save  it;  that  he  gave  him  all  power  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  adequate  to  finish  that  work  and  be  for 
salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth;  that  he  shall  see  of 
the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied;  destroy  death 
and  him  that  had  the  power  of  death  and  deliver  all 
who  through  fear  of  death  were  subject  to  bondage; 
will  draw  all  men  unto  himself  and  deliver  the  king- 
dom to  the  Father,  who  subjected  all  things  unto  him, 
that  God  may  be  all  in  all. 

ikThat  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  doc- 


166  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

trines,  principles,  feeling  and  practices  in  most  churches 
within  a  century,  every  observer  must  admit.  Doc- 
trines which  were  thought  permanent,  fundamental, 
essential  to  salvation,  have  been  loosened,  are  tottering 
and  fast  crumbling  away;  and  broader,  better  and 
more  rational  and  consistent  principles  are  being  sub- 
stituted in  their  stead.  As  yet  the  fullness  of  these 
changes  are  not  clearly  manifest;  but  enough  is  known 
to  sustain  the  position  that  I  take  in  claiming  for  those 
called  Universalists  a  large  share,  under  God.  in  this 
great  and  glorious  work.  ^Ve  have  but  to  ask  a  con- 
trast of  the  opinions,  feelings,  and  more  Christian  and 
fraternal  conduct  of  the  present,  with  the  past  of  a 
hundred  or  fifty  years  ago,  to  make  plain  what  I  as- 
sume in  our  own  behalf. 

"But  the  question  I  propose  to  discuss  is:  Has  the 
advocacy  of  Universalism  done  any  good  in  the  world, 
or  has  it  been  an  injury  I 

"This  question  cannot  be  answered  correctly  without 
ascertaining  what  it  has  done,  and  what  it  proposes  to 
do.  This  information  I  shall  not  be  able  to  give  you 
in  its  fullness,  in  a  single  discourse.  But  I  may  be  able 
to  indicate  some  facts  which  will  help  the  thoughtful 
to  a  clearer  apprehension  of  what  is  embraced  as  essen- 
tial principles  in  the  formation  of  a  true  Christian  char- 
acter, and  obtainment  of  a  good  hope. 

"Although  Universalism  was  hotly  opposed  and 
wickedly  misrepresented,  it  advanced  with  astonishing 
rapidity  and  made  many  conquests.  But  its  growth 
and  extension  can  not  be  determined  by  its  numbers 
and  outside  showing,  as  with  the  Methodists  and  other 
sects.  Its  chief  work  is  in  the  mind,  in  the  heart, 
warming  and  expanding  the  affections,  liberalizing  the 
views,  inspiring  confidence  and  hope  in  God,  and,  by 
gradual  growth,  enlarging  the  sphere  of  action,  reconcil- 
ing differences,  and  making  paramount  the  love  of  God 
and  man  over  all  minor  considerations.  This  has  been 
the  field  of  its  chief  operations.     The  improved  feeling 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCI1.  16T 

of  the  churches,  the  more  fraternal  greetings  among 
professors;  the  more  united  efforts  to  reform  and  save 
the  world  from  vices  and  miseries;  the  brighter  hopes; 
the  firmer  faith;  the  kindlier  feeling  among  all  the  people, 
testify,  in  part,  the  great  value  of  the  universal  princi- 
ples we  have  preached,  and  to  some  extent  practiced, 
in  our  day  and  generation. 

"The  products  of  these  labors  have  not  ripened  into- 
a  full  harvest.  Prejudices  still  exist  and  selfishness- 
prevents  the  free  extension  of  universal  love  in  com- 
plete reconciliation  to  God.  and  peace  and  good  will 
among  men.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  calculate 
what  the  harvest  shall  be  in  coming  years — in  quantity; 
it  is  plain  what  it  must  be  in  kind,  for  love  works  no 
ill,  but  seeks  the  good,  the  happiness,  the  salvation  of  alL 

"We  confess  our  work  is  but  begun,  and  so  far  very 
imperfectly  done.  We  are  in  the  world  of  human 
influences  and  aspirations,  too  much  controlled  by  its 
forms  and  fashions,  errors,  and  too  ready  to  adopt  the 
machinery  invented  by  men  to  carry  on  the  work  of 
God.  We  do  not  appreciate  enough  our  opportunities, 
feel  our  personal  responsibilities,  and  employ  the  means 
at  our  command  to  enrich  our  souls  in  the  love  and 
knowledge  of  God.  in  studying  his  laws  as  unfolded  to 
the  thoughtful  and  devout  in  every  department  of  his. 
government.  "We  do  not  learn  of  Jesus  the  lessons  of 
true  living  and  loving;  how  to  possess  our  vessels  in 
honor  and  secure  the  blessings  promised  to  reward  the 
well  doers.  The  world  and  its  fashions  have  a  too 
powerful  control  over  us,  making  slaves  where  there 
should  be  freemen,  and  keeping  us  back  from  the  king- 
dom we  seek  and  hope  to  find.  Universalists  must 
assert  their  freedom  from  such  control,  and  walk  in  the 
light  of  their  faith  and  hope,  before  they  can  demon- 
strate the  great  value  of  the  principles  they  profess- 
and  enter  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  great  salva- 
tion. 

"  Some  mav  demand  a  more  distinct  statement  of  the 


16S  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

changes  wrought  by  the  ministry  of  Universalism, 
that  a  more  correct  estimate  may  be  set  upon  the  value 
of  its  labors.  I  will  answer  briefly  as  I  can  such 
demand : 

"  1.  Universalism  has  taught,  and  pretty  thoroughly 
■established  the  doctrine  that  God  is  the  father  of  all 
men ; 

"  2.  The  acceptance  of  the  Universal  Fatherhood  of 
•God  necessarily  compelled  the  admission  that  all  men 
-are  brethren  and  under  mutual  obligations  to  love  one 
.another. 

"  3.  The  relation  of  God  to  man,  as  revealed  through 
Jesus  Christ,  in  the  plan  of  salvation  was  clearly  and 
rationally  made  to  consist  in  repentance —  a  complete 
forsaking  of  sin,  ceasing  to  do  evil  and  learning  to  do 
well ;  reconciliation  to  God ;  purity  of  heart  and  life, 
and  love  and  good-will  to  all  men. 

"  Universalists,  who  are  true  to  their  principles,  must 
be  among  the  best,  the  truest  of  men,  and  always  strive 
to  be  better  still,  ever  reaching  forward,  and  aspiring 
towards  the  absolute  and  eternal  good,  and  always 
studious  to  adorn  the  doctrines  of  God  our  Saviour  by 
well  ordered  lives  and  a  godly  conversation,  always 
confiding  in  God  their  heavenly  Father,  and  ever  pre- 
paring to  meet  and  live  with  the  pure,  the  good,  the 
holy,  and  all  kindred,  in  realms  of  light  and  love  im- 
mortal. 

"  What  is  grander,  nobler,  more  worthy  of  God,  more 
honorable  to  Jesus,  or  more  desired  by  good  men  of  all 
names  than  the  salvation  of  all  men  from  sin,  ignorance 
;and  error,  their  purity,  holiness  and  happiness  in  the 
immortal  life  brought  to  light  in  the  Gospel? " 

This  doctrine  of  the  impartial  benevolence  of  God, 
is  of  all  others  the  most  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
charitable  and  benevolent  feelings.  And  the  heart 
that  cherishes  it  sincerely,  is  a  most  fit  and  prolific  soil 
whence  all  the  noblest  aspirations  of  the  soul 
spring  spontaneously  and  abundantly,  for  it  directs  us 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  16£> 

to  copy  the  example  of  the  merciful  Father  of  man- 
kind, who  "  causes  His  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the 
good,  and  sends  his  rain  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust." 
It  bids  us  cherish  kind  and  benevolent  dispositions  to- 
ward the  unthankful  and  the  evil,  and  to  do  good  to 
all  men  as  we  are  afforded  the  opportunity. 

The  Universalist  is  the  one  who  has  the  principle 
of  universal  love  dwelling  richly  in  him,  so  that  he 
loves  all  men,  deals  justly  with  all,  acts  mercifully  to- 
ward all,  lives  peaceably  with  all,  and  hates  and  injures 
none.  In  what  a  glorious  condition  would  the  world 
be.  if  all  could  accept  these  views,  not  professedly,  but 
genuinely  and  practically.  Strange  that  any  rational 
being  should  fear  to  have  such  sentiments  prevail  far 
and  wide  till  all  shall  embrace  them,  and  obey  their 
heavenly  and  benign  influence,  and  be  governed  by 
universal  and  impartial  love.  If  to  believe  that  God  is 
our  friend;  that  he  is  ever  watchful  over  our  lives,  and 
our  happiness,  making  all  the  purposes  of  his  moral 
government  work  together  for  our  good;  if  this  is  cal- 
culated to  weaken  the  ties  of  virtue,  then  is  the  religion 
of  Jesus  a  failure.  But  how  can  this  be,  if  "love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law."  or  the  goodness  of  God  is  what 
leads  to  repentance  I  No — "He  that  hath  this  hope  in 
him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure." 

"  THE  PASTOR'S  DUTY," 

is  a  plain  lesson  to  Pastors  of  which  I  may  give  text, 
and  somewhat  liberal  extracts: 

"  Preach  the  word;  be  instant  in  season,  out  of  season;  reprove, 
rebuke,  exhort,  with  all  long  suffering  and  doctrine. 

II.  Tim.  iv.:  2. 

"By  the  word  which  Timothy  is  charged  to  preach 
is  signified,  very  evidently,  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel. 
It  is  so  used  in  numerous  cases.  ;  Receive  with  meek- 
ness the  ingrafted  word,  which  is  able  to  save  your 
souls  ■  (James  i.:  21). 


170  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

"  To  you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation  sent  (Acts 
xiii.:  27).  Hence  the  phrases  word  of  life,  the  word  of 
the  gospel,  &c.  In  its  extended  sense,  it  is  applied  to 
the  whole  revelation  of  God,  including  the  scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

"  The  whole  object  of  preaching  is  to  make  people 
better,  more  honest  in  their  dealings,  more  virtuous 
in  their  conduct,  more  affectionate  in  their  families, 
more  peaceable  in  society,  more  humble  and  sincere 
in  their  devotions  to  God,  and  more  engaged  in  the 
service  and  duties  of  religion.  Particular  doctrines  are 
good  for  nothing,  any  further  than  they  have  a  ten- 
dency to  produce  these  effects.  That  doctrine  is  best 
which  has  the  most  wholesome  influence  upon  the 
moral  health  and  prosperity  of  the  community. 

•'  In  preaching  the  word  the  minister  of  glad  tidings, 
must  take  a  bold  and  independent  stand,  and  clearly 
state,  and  fearlessly  defend  those  sentiments,  which,  in 
his  opinion,  derive  support  from  the  oracles  of  truth, 
.and,  m  their  operations,  are  calculated  to  promote  the 
happiness  of  all  who  receive  them. 

"  The  natural  tendency  of  the  gospel  is  to  produce 
great  joy,  peace  and  good-will  among  men.  Hence  it 
is  evident  that  a  doctrine  which  creates  divisions  in 
families,  in  churches,  and  in  society,  animosity  among 
brethren,  ill-will  towards  one  another,  cannot  be  the 
true  doctrine.  A  pure  fountain  doth  not  send  forth 
bitter  water;  neither  doth  a  good  tree  bring  forth 
evil  fruit. 

"  When  called  to  sympathize  with  the  afflicted,  he 
must  preach  the  word  with  all  that  energy  necessary  to 
produce  reverence  in  the  bereaved,  by  teaching  them 
humility  and  submission  to  the  wise  providence  of  God. 
There  is  nothing  more  admirably  adapted  to  its  end  than 
the  Gospel  to  meet  the  wants  of  mankind.  It  reveals 
every  dark  mystery,  in  the  order  of  divine  govern- 
ment, and  unfolds  the  reason  of  human  suffering.  It 
assures   us,  beyond   a  doubt,  that  good  is   the   leading 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  171 

object  in  all  the  works  of  God.  Its  language  is,  "  Though 
grief  may  endure  for  a  night  yet  joy  comet h  in  the  morn- 
ing; that  our  light  afflictions  which  are  bat  for  a  moment 
shall  work  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eter- 
nal weight  of  glory;  that  though  no  chastening-  for  the 
present  seemeth  joyous  but  grievous  neverthe- 
less, afterwards,  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness  unto  them  that  are  exercised  thereby.'' 
Especially  when  the  mind  is  distressed  with  the  cares 
and  perplexities  of  life,  or  is  wearied  with  over-much 
sorrow,  the  Gospel  imparts  its  benign  influence,  which 
entirely  dissipates  the  gathering  gloom  which  seemed 
to  threaten  an  overthrow  of  all  earthly  felicity.  It 
whispers  peace  to  the  returning  penitent  under  the 
assurance  of  forgiven  sins.  It  breathes  comfort  to  the 
mourner  under  a  hope  in  a  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
and  a  re-union  of  souls  in  a  state  of  immortal  beatitude. 
Though  it  denounces  the  sorest  punishment  against  all 
transgressions,  it  does  not  force  the  sinner  to  despair,  by 
annihilating  all  hope  of  acceptance  with  God  ;  but  it 
proclaims  the  simple  method  of  salvation — by  ceasing  to 
do  evil  and  learning  to  do  well;  by  dealing  justly,  lov- 
ing mercy  and  walking  humbly  with  God  ;  by  doing 
unto  others  as  we  wish  others  to  do  unto  us.  How 
simple  are  its  requirements,  and  yet  how  rich  its  re- 
ward !  Strange  that  any  should  attempt  to  walk  by  the 
wisdom  of  this  world,  when  that  which  is  from  above  is 
far  more  simple. 

"  Xot  only  is  the  faithful  minister  called  to  preach 
the  word  at  stated  times,  but  he  is  also  commanded 
to  be  '  instant  in  season,  and  out  of  season.'  On  all 
fit  occasions  he  should  strive  to  convince  sinners  of 
the  error  of  their  ways,  and  instil  into  their  minds 
those  sublime  sentiments  which  naturally  inspire  the 
soul  with  ardent  love  to  God,  and  subdue  the  unhal- 
lowed affections  of  the  heart.  The  awful  consequences 
of  sin  —  the  loss  of  character,  the  bitterness  of  spirit, 
the  anguish  of  mind,  and  all  the  ten-thousand  miseries  it 


172  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

brings  upon  its  deluded  votaries  —  should  be  portrayed 
in  living  colors  before  them.  He  should  cause  them 
to  contrast  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  with 
the  unavoidable  consequences  of  transgression,  and 
see  how  that  by  well-doing  we  shall  be  happy,  and 
by  a  neglect  of  duty  we  must  be  miserable." 

"  Let  sinners  know  the  advantages  of  a  well-ordered 
life,  and  they  will  sin  no  more.  Let  mourners  feel 
the  comforts  of  the  Gospel,  and  they  will  mourn  no 
more. 

"  These  are  duties,  which,  being  productive  of  the 
happiest  consequences,  may  be  pleasurable  to  the 
preacher,  and  gratifying  to  the  hearer,  and  increase 
a  mutual  attachment  between  both.  But  there  are 
other  duties  inculcated  in  the  text,  which,  though 
more  unpleasant,  are  not  less  important.  To  them 
the  faithful  minister  in  the  discharge  of  his  holy  call- 
ing, must  also  give  attention.  Paul  not  only  charges 
Timothy  to  preach  the  word  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  "but  also  to  reprove  and  rebuke. 

"  These  terms  convey  nearly  the  same  ideas.  Taken 
in  connection  they  carry  writh  them  a  force  not  easily 
resisted.  They  refer  not  only  to  the  moral  conduct 
of  the  professor,  but  also  to  his  belief.  Paul  so  uses 
them  in  his  letter  to  Titus.  Speaking  of  the  Cretians 
he  says,  '  Rebuke  them  sharply  that  they  may  be 
sound  in  the  faith.' 

"  The  effectual  preacher  must  at  all  times  act  for 
the  good  of  them  to  whom  he  preaches. 

"  He  should  adopt  a  course  which  to  him  appears 
most  consistent  and  best  calculated  to  gain  the  object 
in  view,  to  wit :  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of 
sinners.  Wherever  he  discovers  vice  with  all  its  attend- 
ant enormities  stalking  abroad  amongst  men,  he  must 
declaim  against  it  with  all  the  eloquence  he  can  com- 
mand. He  must  denounce  iniquity  of  every  kind,  under 
every  circumstance  without  fear  or  favor. 

"  Sin  is  his  antagonist,  against  which  he  must  fear- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  ITS 

lessly  contend,  and  wherever  he  finds  it  encamped, 
among  the  high  or  the  low,  the  rich  or  the  poor,  the 
honored  or  despised,  there  he  must  bring  his  whole  ar- 
tillery to  bear,  nor  cease  the  warfare,  till  he  has  demol 
ished  its  strongholds,  completely  routed  this  enemy 
of  all  happiness,  and  forced  it  to  retreat  in  deep  dis- 
grace to  the  abodes  of  dark  oblivion  whence  it  came.. 
He  must  know  no  distinctions  save  between  virtue  and 
vice.  Like  an  ancient  prophet  he  must  '  cry  aloud 
and  spare  not,  but  lift  up  his  voice  like  a  trumpet  and 
show  the  people  their  transgressions,  and  the  house  of 
Jacob  their  sins.' 

"  Xot  only  must  he  oppose  sin  as  a  common  enemy, 
but  in  contending  '•  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  deliv- 
ered to  the  saints,'  he  must  reprove  and  rebuke  those 
errors  and  false  doctrines  which  reflect  dishonor  on 
God  and  promote  misery  among  men.  With  them  he- 
must  have  no  fellowship. 

"All  these  reproofs,  rebukes,  and  exortations  should 
be  made  with  all  long  mfferiTig  and  doctrine.  Charity 
suffereth  long  and  is  kind.  Therefore  charity  should 
be  the  reigning  principle,  and  leading  impulse  to  the 
fulfillment  of  all  these  duties,  and  when  compelled 
to  specify  the  errors,  or  correct  the  faults  of  others,  it 
should  be  done  in  the  spirit  of  mildness,  meekness, 
charity,  with  a  view  to  reform  and  bring  about  the 
greatest  good  of  those  concerned.  Every  thing  should 
be  done  in  a  plain,  simple  and  unostentious  manner,  so 
that  all  may  comprehend  the  length  and  breadth,  the 
height  aiuf  depth  of  all  that  is  said.  Mystery  belongs 
not  to  the  Gospel,  nor  dark  sayings  to  the  preacher  of  it." 


WHAT  OF  THE  FUTURE  LIFE  ? 

A   SERMON     PREACHED    IN      ELGIN,    ILL.,    DECEMBER     10,    1871,    AOT> 
PUBLISHED   IN    THE    UNIYEBSALIST   BY   SPECIAL    REQUEST, 

Then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known. — I.  Cob.  xiii:  12. 
"  From  the  connection  we  learn  that  St.  Paul  refers 
this  language  to  a  future  life.     He  contrasts  the  highest 
12 


174  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

attainments  here  with  the  perfections  of  the  blessed 
hereafter.  In  his  best  estate  he  confessed  his  imper- 
fectness;  that  he  had  not  apprehended  all  truth,  nor 
reached  the  perfection  to  which  he  aspired;  that  the 
best  gifts  should  cease  and  knowledge  vanish  away; 
that  we  know  in  part,  and  prophesy  in  part,  but  when 
that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that  which  is  in 
part  shall  be  done  away.  He  then  compares  the  prog- 
ress of  the  soul  to  growth  from  childhood  to  manhood; 
for  '  now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face 
to  face;  now  I  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  know  even 
as  also  I  am  known.' 

"Man's  future  and  final  destiny  is  a  matter  of  deep 
and  solemn  concern  to  all  of  us.  We  are  conscious  of  our 
mortality.  Death's  doings  are  all  about  us.  Iso  thought- 
ful person  doubts,  for  a  moment,  the  fact  that  earth  is  not 
his  home.  He  confesses  that  he  cannot  long  inhabit  this 
tabernacle  .made  with  hands.  He  knows  that  he  must 
soon  pass  through  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death,  and 
enter  upon  the  realities  of  the  great  unknown; — if  there 
be  for  him  any  realities  beyond  this  present  time,  that 
if,  he  would  have  explained  and  removed  if  possible. 
It  is  that  which  perplexes  and  troubles  him.  His  doubts 
congeal  about  it,  his  hopes  are  clouded  and  his  heart  is 
sad. 

Is  there  no  light  to  shine  on  this  darkness?  Xo 
voice  to  speak  to  us  and  break  the  awful  silence? 

What  is  revealed  of  that  immortal  life?  What 
makes  it  an  object  of  strong  desire,  of  ardent  hope  ? 
What  is  seen,  in  the  clear  light  of  Jesus'  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  which  a  rational  faith  can  accept  and 
hope  lay  hold  upon?  What  does  the  voice  utter  which 
speaks  from  the  sullen  darkness,  from  the  silence  and 
mystery  of  the  Spirit  Land,  entrancing  by  its  sweet- 
ness, and  ravishing  with  its  exquisite  harmony,  which 
vibrates  with  the  purest  and  holiest  and  noblest  desires 
of  the  human  heart  ? 

In  sober  earnest,  what  convictions  what  affections, 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCTI.  175 

what  ideas,  what  hopes,  what  conditions  do  we  associ- 
ate with  a  future  life,  as  brought  to  light  in  the  Gospel  \ 
Is  it  the  paradise  of  the  heathen,  where  human  passions 
still  live,  and  hatred  is  not  forgotten  \  Where  the  odious 
distinctions  of  this  life  are  magnified  into  infinite  differ- 
ences \  Where  ambition  climbs,  selfishness  predomi- 
nates, pretention  triumphs,  and  honesty  and  humanity 
aud  virtue  toil  in  vain  \  Is  it  the  Indian  heaven,  where 
indulgence  comes  to  all  earth  desired,  and  the  strifes  of 
time  are  triumphs  for  eternity?  Are  our  ideas,  our 
hopes  of  the  better  land  crudely  formed,  tinged  with 
the  remembrance  of  the  ills,  the  wrongs  and  sorrows 
of  the  present  life  \  Or  are  they  based  upon  a  radical 
change  in  man's  moral  nature  by  a  transition  so  sudden 
and  complete  that  no  recognition  of  the  past,  of  which 
we  have  been,  will  remain  \ 

Two  doctrines  have  been  preached  as  parts  of 
Christianity  which  seem  to  me  radically  wrong.  Both 
maintain  that  there  will  be  a  sudden  and  complete 
change  at  death,  by  the  act  of  God,  which  will  entirely 
disrupt  and  destroy  the  moral  order  and  responsibility 
of  the  present  life.  One  teaches  that,  for  other  con- 
siderations than  moral  goodness  or  even  love  of  God, 
the  souls  of  the  elect  and  favored  which  have  accepted 
certain  dogmas,  obeyed  certain  authorities,  once  per- 
formed prescribed  duties  which  are  not  necessarily  con- 
nected with  moral  feeling  or  right  conduct,  will  never 
be  punished  for  their  sins,  but  will  certainly  obtain  the 
reward  of  immortal  blessedness ;  while  others,  morally 
more  honest,  more  sincere,  more  benevolent,  more 
generous,  more  trustworthy — in  everything  better  for 
the  domestic,  social,  intellectual  and  political  welfare 
of  themselves  and  fellowmen,  and  even  more  sincere 
and  devout  in  their  thoughts  and  feelings  towards  the 
God  and  Father  of  all,  and  more  in  union,  love  and  for- 
bearance towards  mankind,  shall  never  be  rewarded 
for  their  good  deeds,  but  are  rejected,  shut  out  of 
heaven,  cast  down  to  hell,  and  be  made  miserable  for- 


176  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

ever.  Read  the  history  of  the  church  in  proof  of  this. 
What  else  divides  the  sects  of  to-day  ? 

The  other  teaches  that  no  memory  of  the  present 
moral  and  social  life  and  character  will  remain,  but 
man  will  become  a  new  creation  in  all  the  attributes 
of  his  being,  retaining  nothing  of  what  he  has  been 
and  done.  To  me  this  is  virtual  annihilation.  What 
is  a  future  life  to  me  if  no  consciousness  of  myself  re- 
mains ?  The  lamp  of  this  life  may  as  well  be  extin- 
guished at  once  and  forever.  There  is  for  me  no  im- 
mortality. The  particles  of  this  body  may  molder, 
separate  and  mingle  with  their  primordial  dust  and  be 
absorbed  into  vegetables — a  plant,  a  shrub,  or  tree, 
and  be  as  much  in  my  body,  as  that  the  mind,  its  prop- 
erties and  principles,  may  be  constructed  into  a  being 
unconscious  of  what  I  have  been  and  clone,  no  matter 
how  ethereal,  pure,  and  angelic ;  it  will  be  nothing  to 
me,  with  the  me  left  out.  This  at  most  is  no  more  than 
transmigration,  after  the  heathen  notion.  Does  Chris- 
tianity present  no  surer  hope,  no  sweeter  comfort  than 
this  ?  It  is  then  of  little  worth  as  a  comforter  in  sor- 
row, and  illy  sustains  the  spirit  and  promises  of  its 
Founder. 

Little  is  said,  I  admit,  by  Jesus  or  His  apostles,  about 
the  precise  conditions  of  a  future  life.  But  much  may 
be  learned  from  what  is  said,  and  inferred  from  what  is 
not  said,  which  accords  with  the  purest  desires,  the 
soundest  reason,  and  the  best  philosophy,  viz.  :  that  each 
person  will  exist  in  his  own  proper  identity  and  "know 
as  even  also  he  is  known."  Jesus  says,  "  In  my  Fath- 
er's house  are  many  mansions ;  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you, 
that  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also."  Much  is  to  be 
learned  from  what  is  not  said,  to  contradict  what  lives 
spontaneously  in  the  heart  and  is  essential  to  its  exist- 
ence and  happiness.  It  being*  already  there,  it  only 
needs  proper  culture  to  secure  for  it  all  that  can  be 
enjoyed.     Jesus  came  into  the  world  for  that  purpose, 


REV.  WILLIAM   STEVENS    BALCH.  177 

not  to  create,  but  to  "  bear  witness  to  the  truth,"  that 
we  might  have  life,  and  have  it  more  abundantly,  and 
be  comforted  with  the  full  assurance  of  hope,  that 
where  He  is  there  we  may  be  also. 

Every  promise  is  made  to  man  personally ',  and  every 
blessing  is  bestowed  on  individual  ability  to  accept  and 
enjoy.  God  deals  with  us  morally,  not  in  the  aggre- 
gate, but  as  persons.  To  him  we  are  held  primarily, 
directly  and  personally  responsible  to  answer  for  our- 
selves and  not  for  others,  except  in  our  social  capacity. 
And  it  seems  to  me  a  plain,  necessary  and  most  valu- 
able truth,  that  we  shall  all  remain  the  same  identical 
beings  in  the  future  life  that  we  are  in  this.  As  much 
as  the  youth  was  the  child,  and  the  man  the  youth,  we 
there  shall  advance  upon  what  we  werehere,"retaining 
the  several  links  which  connect  our  earliest  conscious- 
ness with  an  endless  chain  of  being.  I  can  think  of 
immortality  in  no  other  way. 

Life  is  a  progress,  a  growth,  a  succession  or  accu- 
mulation of  ideas,  facts,  feelings,  enjoyments.  These 
become  real,  what  they  should  be,  as  we  advance  from 
the  gross  to  the  refined,  from  the  material  to  the  spir- 
itual, from  the  mortal  to  the  immortal,  from  the  hu- 
man to  the  divine.  Through  these  preparatory  steps  we 
are,  like  children,  growing  into  our  real  manhood,  rising 
out  of  our  low,  imperfect  state,  and  maturing  for  eter- 
nity, advancing  towards  the  perfection  and  glory  of 
the  Infinite  Father,  where,  "  face  to  face,  we  shall 
know  even  as  also  we  are  known." 

This  answers  the  objection  which  perplexes  some 
minds,  that  if  we  retain  our  personal  identitv  and  a 
consciousness  of  all  we  have  been  and  done,  Ave  shall 
be  made  miserable  by  a  review  of  our  conduct  and 
character  in  the  light  of  God.  Why  so  (  Xo  more 
than  manhood  is  troubled  by  the  memories  of  youth, 
or  childhood  by  the  foibles  of  infancy.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  Gospel  plan  is  founded  upon  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  God  in  saving  from  imperfection,  sin  and 


178  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

death.  "The  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity  by 
reason  of  Him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope." 
Our  sweetest  joys  are  kindled  by  the  love  of  God  in 
the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  and  gift  of  eternal  life. 
"  The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eter- 
nal life."  Did  not  the  Prodigal  love  as  never  before 
when,  freely  and  lovingly  embraced  by  his  Father? 
Remember  Jesus'  words,  as  He  sat  in  the  house  of 
Simon,  who  disapproved  the  loving  and  grateful  deed 
of  one  who  had  been  wicked;  but  the  odor  of  her  pious 
offering  filled  all  the  house.  I  once  witnessed  a  recog- 
nition of  two  old  men  who  had  parted  in  bitter  anger 
many  years  before, 

"  Nursing  their  wrath  to  keep  it  warm," 

for  a  long  time.  Long  years  had  passed;  better  prin- 
ciples had  prevailed.  They  met  and  embraced.  They 
recounted  many  scenes  and  events,  away  back  to  their 
youthful  days  ;  but  neither  alluded  to  difficulties  which 
had  parted  them.  The  spirit  of  forgiveness  was  in  both 
their  hearts.  Goodness  had  prevailed.  The  love  of 
God  had  weaned  them  from  sin  and  selfishness,  and 
reconciled  them  to  truth  and  right,  and  to  God.  They 
had  repented,  and  they  loved  as  sincerely  as  if  never 
deceived  by  error  or  cheated  by  selfishness — as  if  they 
had  never  hated.  An  angel's  presence  was  there;  and 
there  was  joy  in  heaven.  Immortal  bliss  is  not  made 
up  of  self  gratulations,  in  boasting  of  what  we  have 
done.  Jesus  has  some  claim,  and  God  deserves  some 
praise.  "  Not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  be  all  the 
glory."  "  They  sing  the  song  of  redeeming  grace — of 
Moses  and  the  Lamb,"  but  give  to  God  the  glory. 
There  we  shall  look  upon  the  past,  upon  all  life's 
thoughts,  feelings  and  desires,  not  in  the  light  of  pride 
and  self-interest  as  now.  but  in  the  light  of  God's  love 
and  truth,  and  grace;  for  we  shall  "know  even  as  also 
we  are  known." 

One  fact  more  seems  properly  connected  with  our 


KEY.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  179 

subject,  the  recognition  of  friends  in  the  future  life. 
This  follows  of  necessity  from  the  premises  accepted  as 
true.  It  shall  be  no  more  difficult  to  recognize  those 
we  know  in  part  and  love,  than  to  know  ourselves  in 
the  spirit  world.  Wakened  from  the  slumbers  of 
degradation  in  ignorance  and  vice — a  moral  death — and 
transported  to  the  home  of  purity,  wisdom  and  elegant 
refinement,  one  would  sooner  recognize  himself  by  the 
presence  of  friends  than  by  a  view  of  himself  in  condi- 
tions so  changed,  and  so  utterly  unknown  and  un- 
thought  of.  And  then  what  would  heaven  be  without 
a  friend?  How  dreary!  how  sad!  how  unbearable! 
We  can  scarcely  endure  the  loneliness  of  short  separa- 
tions in  this  life  from  those  we  love.  What  must 
heaven  be  with  an  eternal  separation?  What  a  sadness 
mingles  with  our  joys  in  every  scene  of  life  when  the 
heart  is  bereft  of  the  affection  of  those  we  love  to  have 
near  us.  The  finest  views  in  nature,  the  grandest 
works  of  art,  the  most  splendid  representations  of 
talent  are  doubly  emhanced  by  their  presence,  and  half 
the  joy  is  lost  when  they  are  not  with  us  to  be  happy 
also. 

We  are  sometimes  told  by  stoic  theorists  that  we 
must  not  think  of  earthly  friendships,  the  ties  of  love 
wThen  contemplating  the  future  state,  the  glories  of 
heaven — everything  will  be  so  changed  there — we  must 
be  willing  to  surrender  our  dearest  kindred  with  uncon- 
cern for  their  welfare,  when  entered  into  the  bliss  of 
heaven,  be  willing  to  know  they  are  lost — to  be  miser- 
able infinitely  and  forever.  What  a  doctrine  to  be 
baptized  in  the  name  of  Christ?  Think  of  heaven  and 
hope  for  it  without  friends!  Immortal  blessedness 
without  love!  Impossible!  There  is  no  heaven  where 
they  are  not.  There  can  be  none.  Souls  that  hate  are 
miserable.  Bereft  of  those  we  love  we  can  not  be 
happy.  I  knew  a  mother  once  who  was  so  utterly 
miserable  at  the  death  of  her  little  child,  that  she 
caused  its  cold  body  to  be  dug  twice  from  its  grave 


180  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

that  she  might  embrace  it  and  wail  over  it,  for  she  be- 
lieved  God  had  no  mercy  on  it.  She  afterward  became 
insane.     Do  you  wonder  ? 

How  different  the  prospect  to  those  who  accept  the 
testimony  of  God's  love  and  truth  as  revealed  in  the 
leart  and  in  the  Word  ;  who  believe  in  the  fulfillment 
•of  his  promises,  the  execution  of  his  plan  of  grace — 
salvation  from  sin,  ignorance  and  death ;  that  death 
•.shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory,  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  death,  sorrow,  nor  crying,  nor  an}r  more  pain ; 
but  former  things  be  passed  away,  and  all  things  be 
made  new — all  things  be  of  God,  that  God  may  be  all 
in  all ! 

■5f  vr  ■&  vf  7T  vr  vS- 

I  have  failed  to  mention  an 

OCCASIONAL  SERMON, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  ILLINOIS  UNIVERSALIS!*  STATE  CONVENTION 
IN  ELGIN,  OCTOBER  20,  1868. 

What  shall  we  do  that  we  may  work  the  works  of  God. — 
John  vi:  28. 

There  is  an  intimate  connection  between  God  and 
all  good  works.  He  reigns  everywhere.  His  laws  are 
permanent  and  universal.  They  are  established  in  wis- 
dom for  the  good  of  all  men.  He  is  good — nothing- 
evil  can  come  from  Him.  He  is  perfect — He  can  never 
change.  He  is  almighty — none  can  escape  His  judg- 
ments. He  rewards  the  righteous,  the  well-doers, 
sends  blessings  upon  all  who  remember  His  command- 
ments to  do  them.  He  punishes  the  wicked,  all  evil- 
doers, who  live  not  according  to  His  laws  in  the  con- 
ditions of  their  being.  He  renders  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works.  In  every  nation,  he  that  fears  Him 
and  works  righteousness,  is  accepted  of  Him,  while  in 
the  nature  of  things,  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is 
hard,  and  there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked.  Nothing  is 
plainer  in  revelation,  philosophy  and  fact,  and  nothing 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    IJALCII.  1S1 

is  safer  as  a  foundation  of  moral  action  in  the  social 
relations  of  life. 

Theories  have  been  devised,  altered,  changed,  recon- 
structed ;  rules  have  been  decreed;  rewards  have  been 
offered ;  punishments  have  been  inflicted  and  severer 
ones  threatened,  yet  the  world  has  not  worked  the 
work  of  God,  and  has  but  slowly  improved — some  say  ' 
not  at  all — in  the  great  chief  work  of  moral  progress 
and  personal  perfection. 

There  is  little  cause  for  marvel  why  so  many  seri- 
ous, thoughtful,  honest,  philanthropic,  excellent  peo- 
ple stray  outside  the  pale  of  religious  organizations, 
seeming  to  avoid  the  direct  work  of  God,  while  they 
really  love  the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  devoutly 
desire  their  universal  prevalence.  They  do  not  see 
exemplified  in  the  methods  of  sectarian  work,  the 
wisdom,  spirit  and  moral  excellence;  the  breadth  and 
power  and  purity  they  have  found  in  the  Gospel,  and 
felt  to  be,  in  some  degree,  in  their  own  hearts.  They 
do  not  find  a  witness  to  correspond  with  the  narrow 
and  selfish  devices,  the  proud  ambition,  the  bigoted 
adhesion  to  names,  sects,  and  parties  which  have 
characterized  the  history  of  the  church.  They  look 
into  the  humanities  —  the  charities  and  benevolent 
workings  outside  the  churches,  and  find  moral  reforms 
going  on  successfully,  though  neglected,  and  often 
frowned  upon  by  professed  Christians,  and  actually 
doing  more  good  for  the  race,  and  approaching  nearer 
to  their  convictions  of  what  is  the  work  of  God.  They 
ask,  "  Why  are  the  churches  so  bound  up  in  their  own 
aggrandizement  —  building  and  adorning  splendid 
structures  for  the  rich  and  fashionable,  sustaining  arro- 
gant and  exclusive  ministries,  gathering  in  large  reve- 
nues for  sectarian  colleges,  publications,  and  mission- 
aries;  remodeling,  patching,  repairing  and  inter- 
preting old.  worn,  torn,  shattered,  threadbare,  rotten, 
dogmatic  creeds,  fit  only  for  the  moles  and  the  bats 
while  all  around  vice  festers,  dishonesty  thrives,  drunk- 


1S2  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

enness  revels,  crime  increases,  industry  struggles, 
fashion  flouts  insult  in  the  face  of  honesty;  good  men 
suffer;  pure  men  are  disowned;  sin  luxuriates,  and  the 
poor  perish  without  the  Gospel  ?  " 

Who  will  answer  them?  Who  will  tell  the  reason 
of  this  long  delay,  of  this  weary  wandering  to  find  a 
way  to  the  high  altar  of  true  worship  and  the  work  of 
God  ?  Or,  is  it  so,  that  Christianity  is  to  remain  an 
everlasting  puzzle,  and  the  work  of  God  an  involved 
problem  for  quacks  to  experiment  on,  philosophers  to 
gaze  at,  sectarists  to  quarrel  over,  enthusiasts  to  talk 
about,  and  good  men  and  honest  to  attempt  in  vain  ? 
It  cannot  be.  There  must  be  some  solution  of  the  dif- 
ficulty —  some  way  out  of  this  wilderness  —  some  high- 
way of  holiness  for  the  humble  seeker  after  truth  ;  the 
follower  after  righteousness ;  for  the  honest,  the  faith- 
ful and  the  good —  the  true  light  that  is  to  enlighten 
every  man,  and  guide  to  the  open  entrance  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  which  Jesus  came  to  establish  on 
earth.  Let  us  seek  that  way  in  the  light  of  God.  It 
may  be  His  good  Spirit  will  help  our  infirmities  and 
guide  us  right,  that  we  may  walk  in  the  way,  know  the 
truth,  enjoy  the  life,  and  work  the  work  of  God. 

Jesus  answers  the  question  in  our  text  by  saying  to 
those  who  put  it  :  "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye 
believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent." 

Faith  is  the  true  basis  of  all  right  work.  Without 
it  no  man  can  work  the  work  of  God.  Men  do  not 
work  earnestly,  heartily,  cheerfully,  in  anything  where 
they  feel  no  desire,  expect  no  good,  take  no  interest, 
see  no  success,  and  have  no  faith.  They  must  not  only 
desire  to  have,  but  they  must  believe,  to  possess  and 
enjoy,  and  then  they  will  work  for  it.  The  heart  of 
the  soldier  is  roused  to  deeds  of  noble  daring,  and  his 
arm  is  made  strong1  in  battle  so  long  as  victory  is  be- 
fore  him.  Destroy  his  faith  and  he  is  powerless.  The 
farmer  will  not  sow  where  he  sees  no  harvest.  The 
mechanic  will  not  ply  his  tools  where  he  expects  no  rec- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    LALCII.  1S3 

ompense.  The  merchant  carries  on  his  traffic  in  kind 
when  he  believes  it  will  be  most  remunerative.  The 
fortune  seeker  hunts  for  gold  in  the  mountains,  and 
digs  where  he  believes  it  may  be  found.  The  specula- 
tor invests  in  lands,  stocks  and  rents,  where  he  thinks 
to  realize  the  largest  profits.  Fast  men  add  excitement 
to  risk  and  expect  gain  at  the  stakes  of  the  race  or  the 
gaming  table.  The  politician  believes  there  is  for  him, 
or  his  friends  or  party,  a  place  of  honor,  profit  or 
power,  and  he  buckles  close  his  armor  for  the  fray. 

X o  man  works  without  a  motive,  an  object,  an  end. 
That  is  always  before  him — a  thing  of  faith.  Where 
he  sees,  or  thinks  he  sees  a  way  open,  he  pursues  it. 
Sometimes  his  vision  is  dim,  and  it  is  very  dark,  and 
he  stumbles  and  fails  for  lack  of  sight,  which  faith 
alone  supplies.  Often  false  lights  are  held  out  by  the 
designing,  who  would  decoy  him  into  false  channels 
and  make  him  a  wreck  for  their  own  gain.  More  fre- 
quently he  is  deceived  by  his  own  selfishness — drawn 
away  of  his  own  lust  and  enticed,  and  in  making  haste 
to  be  rich  or  to  enjoy,  he  fails  of  the  real  good  desired. 
Sometimes  men  become  so  fallen,  so  lost,  so  bereft  of 
their  manhood  and  reason,  that  they  act  not  from  any 
distinct  motive;  have  no  fixed  purpose,  no  settled  de- 
sire, but  are  propelled  by  forces  and  outside  pressure  ; 
driven  by  necessity,  chased  by  a  hated  ki  creature  of 
circumstance." 

Xow  as  faith  is  the  basis  of  all  work,  the  work  will  be 
in  kind  and  character  like  the  faith  which  produces  it ;. 
just  as  certainly  as  the  effect  will  be  like  the  cause,  the 
stream  like  the  fountain,  or  the  fruit  like  the  tree. 
There  is  a  natural  and  inseparable  unity  between  the 
two  that  makes  both  one,  so  that  works  can  not  exist 
without  faith,  and  faith  is  dead  without  works.  It 
can  not  live,  being  alone,  any  more  than  the  body  can 
survive  the  departure  of  the  spirit.  Both  must  live 
together,  and  dwell  in  harmony.  Faith  must  precede 
work,  and  work  must  correspond  with,  or  be   the  ex- 


184  THE    LIFE  AXD    LABORS    OF 

pression  of  faith.     Each  plays,  in  turn,  upon  the  other. 
Together  they  constitute  the  real  man. 

There  is  no  light,  no  life,  no  love,  no  soundness,  no 
joy,  where  faith  is  not.  The  difficulty  under  which  the 
world  labors  is  the  weakness,  the  imperfection  or  the 
error  of  faith.  Of  them  it  can  not  be  said,  in  any  final 
sense,  that  they  worked  the  works  of  God. 

The  people^  as  in  our  day,  were  expecting  a  brighter 
light  to  arise,  a  clearer  revelation  to  be  made,  a  mightier 
wer  to  be  given  for  the  guide  of  life.     Xone  were 


Ql  ,v>^  ™   „„«  0 


po 

satisfied  with  what  they  had,  with  what  they  knew, 
with  what  they  believed,  with  what  they  enjoyed.  All 
had  higher  ideals  and  nobler  aspirations.  They  were 
looking,  they  were  waiting,  they  were  praying,  as  mil- 
lions of  souls  are  praying  to-day.  all  over  the  world,  for 
God  to  bring  a  true  witness,  a  living  light,  a  full  con- 
viction, a  joyous  hope,  a  great  deliverance,  a  peaceful 
rest,  "  the  desire  of  all  nations." 

Jesus  came.  He  began  His  work — the  great  refor- 
mation, the  salvation  of  the  world.  Multitudes  were 
•drawn  to  Him.  They  looked,  they  heard,  they  thought, 
but  as  yet  they  did  not  believe  and  feel.  His  first  works 
done  in  humility,  His  first  words  spoken  in  simplicity, 
.all  pertaining  to  daily  life  and  duty,  surprised,  but  did 
not  satisfy  them.  They  saw  the  blessings  multipled 
for  them  ;.  they  ate,  but  did  not  believe.  They  had  no 
olear  conviction  of  the  great  purpose  of  His  mission. 
They  comprehended  not  the  lessons  He  gave  them. 
Their  thoughts  grasped  not  the  idea  of  spiritual  life,  of 
moral  power,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  inearth,  the  reign 
of  God  in  the  affections,  Christ  formed  in  them  the 
hope  of  glory  and  destined  to  universal  dominion. 

They  asked  seriously,  and  earnestly,  no  doubt,  "What 
shall  we  do  to  work  the  works  of  God."  He  answers 
promptly,  and  plainly,  that  the  first  great  act,  the 
preparation  for  all  true  work,  is  to  believe  on  Him 
whom  God  had  sent  to  teach  and  guide,  and  bless,  and 
save  the  world. 


•      REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  1S5 

This  first  act,the  basis  of  all  the  rest  in  the  Chris- 
tian life  and  work,  is  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
appointed  teacher  of  God,  duly  qualified  and  commis- 
sioned to  save  the  world.  On  this  depends  everything 
else  pertaining  to  the  Gospel  scheme  of  redemption;  to 
deny  this  is  to  reject  the  whole. 

Had  Christians  always  heeded  the  instructions, 
obeyed  the  precepts,  imbibed  the  spirit,  felt  the  humil- 
ity, followed  the  example  of  Jesus,  as  one  in  whom 
they  believed,  in  whom  they  had  full  confidence  as 
Teacher,  Guide  and  Savior,  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and 
the  Life  His  church  would  not  now  be  rent  and  wrang- 
ling in  a  thousand  sects,  in  bitter  enmity,  in  hostile 
array,  selfish,  proud,  arrogant,  covetous,  domineering. 

The  history  of  the  church  is  a  striking  proof  of  lis 
want  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Almost  every  other 
means  but  that  revealed  by  Him,  have  been  employed 
to  promote  its  prosperity  and  gain  for  it  prominence 
and  power.  The  wisdom  of  the  world,  the  artifices  of 
crafty  and  designing  men,  the  abuse  of  confidence, 
privilege  and  powers  have  been  preferred  to  the  "wis- 
dom that  is  from  above,  which  is  pure,  peaceable,  gen- 
tle, easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits 
without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy.5'  Honesty, 
justice,  loving-kindness,  good-will  among  men,  personal 
holiness,  universal  love,  justice  and  right  do  not  stand 
prominent  on  its  records  meddling  with  the  affairs 
of  state,  the  rights  of  conscience,  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  to  control,  oppress  and  alienate  by  keeping  in 
ignorance  the  masses  of  men. 

Who  that  has  read  ecclesiastical  history,  or  observed 
the  proceedings  of  the  churches,  so  narrow,  exclusive, 
sectarian,  can  wonder  that  so  many  of  the  best  men, 
profoundest  thinkers,  truest  philosophers,  wisest  states- 
men, noblest  philanthropists — real  Christians — have 
hesitated  and  refused  to  be  numbered  with  believers, 
though  they  have  worked  the  work  of  God,  loved  and 
labored  for  the  good  of  mankind  ? 


1S6  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

"  Jesus  revealed  a  system  of  religion,  true  in  its  doc- 
trines, practical  in  its  spirit,  and  every  way  adapted  to 
the  conditions  and  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  all  men, 
in  all  time.  The  human  mind  can  conceive  of  none 
grander;  logicians  can  prove  none  truer;  the  human  heart 
can  desire  none  better.  It  is  sufficient  to  all  things, 
having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  that  which 
is  to  come.  The  wisdom  of  the  world  has  contrived 
nothing  to  excel  or  equal  it.  The  skill  and  learning  of 
none  have  been  able  to  improve  or  destroy  it.  It  is 
now  the  same  it  was  from  the  beginning — pure,  truth- 
ful, sufficient,  glorious.  Like  the  diamond  neglected, 
lost,  buried  beneath  the  accumulation  of  errors  and 
wrongs  of  ages,  when  dug  out  and  the  rubbish  is  all 
oleared  away,  it  is  found  to  possess  its  primitive  brill- 
iancy and  value.  It  is  beautiful  in  every  setting.  It 
is  the  adornment  alike  of  kings  on  their  thrones,  pris- 
oners in  their  cells,  beggars  in  the  streets,  statesmen  in 
council,  toilers  in  the  fields  of  industry,  humanity  strug- 
gling everywhere.  It  is  the  brightest  light  of  science, 
the  profoundest  axiom  of  philosophy,  the  sweetest 
charm  of  poetry,  the  truest  friend,  the  safest  counsellor, 
the  crown  of  life,  the  hope,  comfort  and  joy  of  the 
dying.  It  is  truth,  light,  life,  victory,  immortality.  It 
is  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  power  of  God.  Jesus 
taught  it,  lived  it,  embodied  it. 

"They  do  not  accept  Christianity  as  an  institution 
of  God,  established  for  the  moral  government  of  respon- 
sible beings.  They  tell  us  it  has  been  tried  and  failed; 
forgetting  to  distinguish  its  true  principles  from  the 
gross  and  monstrous  corruptions  and  errors  which  have 
been  surreptitiously  fastened  upon  it  by  the  pride  and 
ambition  of  wicked  and  ignorant  men.  They  judge  it 
in  the  disguises  of  worldly  wisdom  and  power,  where 
it  has  been  foisted  into  high  places  of  authority  and 
splendor,  and  not  as  it  is  in  fact  among  the  humble,  in 
the  homes  of  the  lowly.  "  The  pure  in  heart  see  God." 
Jesus  rules  his  kingdom  by  the  moral  law.     He  accepts 


REV.    WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  1S7 

not  the  cunning  strategy  of  ambitious  managers,  the 
formal  ceremonies  of  pretentious  priests,  the  revered 
superstitions  of  ignorant  enthusiasts,  in  the  place  of 
honest,  earnest  and  intelligent  devotion  to  truth,  to 
virtue  and  to  God.  He  promised,  and  he  sent  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  guide  his  followers  into  all  truth.  As  many 
as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  thev  are  the  sons  of 
God. 

"  Ours,  my  brethren,  is  a  special  work,  for  we  live 
in  a  wonderful  age. 

"It  is  not  ours  to  rebuild,  patch,  or  prop  the  old  ; 
but  to  use  whatever  is  found  sound  and  suitable  in  the 
construction  of  the  new. 

"  We  need  organization — thorough,  compact,  volun- 
tary. Xow  work  means  more  than  organization,  it 
means  that  and  mere  too.  We  include  victory  and  the 
fruits  of  victory — the  arts  of  peace.  Others  labored 
and  we  have  entered  into  their  labors.  We  are  to 
carry  forward  the  work  and  help  finish  what  they  so 
well  began.  We  are  to  cultivate  the  fields  their  valor 
won. 

u  Ours  is  the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  We  are 
ambassadors  for  Christ.  In  his  name — in  the  faith, 
spirit  and  power  of  his  religion,  we  persuade  men  to  be 
reconciled  to  God.  We  are  called  to  work  the  work  of 
God — not  of  man,  nor  by  man — to  seek  and  to  save 
them  that  are  lost;  to  restore  them  to  the  fold  of  God, 
in  the  faith  and  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  there  may  be 
one  fold  and  one  shepherd. 

u  Our  first  chief  work  is  with  our  own  hearts  and 
lives,  that  our  affections,  our  wills,  our  whole  souls  be 
deeply  imbued  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  be 
"lively  stones — not  dead  weights— built  up  a  spiritual 
house,  an  holy  priesthood," — everyone  of  us — "to  olfer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ."  It  is  not  the  number,  or  the  cunning  of  the 
craftsmen,  so  much  as  the  fidelity,  constancy  and  per- 
severance of  those  professedly  engaged  in  his  service, 


188  THE   LIFE  AKD    LABORS    OF 

that  shall   promote  the  cause   of  truth   and  make  it 
triumphant. 

"  The  cause  requires  good  men  and  true,  pure  men 
and  humble,  reverent  of  God  and  in  love  with  mankind, 
whose  daily  prayer  is,  "  Thy  kingdom  come  ;  Thy  will 
be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven  ; "  preachers,  editors, 
writers ;  men,  women  and  children,  who  attach  im- 
portance and  a  value  to  their  religion,  and  make  it 
second  to  nothing  else ;  who  will  swerve  not,  nor 
waver  in  the  fiercest  conflict  with  error  and  vice  for 
the  sake  of  personal  ease,  wealth,  enjoyment  or  renown  ; 
but  who,  every  day,  and  everywhere,  are  true  to  their 
convictions,  resolute  in  the  defense  of  truth,  never 
terrified  by  their  adversaries,  always  hopeful,  joyous, 
happy,  forgiving  and  full  of  true  and  kind  words,  let- 
ting their  "light  so  shine  before  men  that  others  may 
glorify  our  Father  in  heaven." 

"  As  a  denomination,  with  a  great  work  before  us, 
and  full  opportunity,  we  need  more  work  and  less  legis- 
lation, more  doing  and  less  planning ;  better  workers 
and  fewer  managers.  We  need  moral  culture  and 
spiritual  growth ;  personal  piety  and  home  religion  ; 
love  of  God  and  faith  in  Jesus.  Without  such  training 
any  organization  will  be  imperfect  and  incapable. 
It  may  count  large  numbers,  make  a  fine  show  and 
attract  much  admiration,  but  for  any  practical  work  it 
will  prove  a  splendid  failure.  It  is  not  parade,  but 
votes  that  will  elect  a  President. 

"  Keligion  is  personal ;  its  home  is  the  heart.  It 
must  live  there  or  it  does  not  really  live  at  all.  It 
communicates  with  the  world,  but  does  not  nourish  in 
crowds,  where  the  atmosphere  becomes  impure.  It 
leads  the  soul  apart,  to  commune  with  God  in  the 
closet,  that  it  may  grow  strong,  and  then  go  out  into 
the  active  world  and  receive  its  reward  openly — "not 
yours,  but  you." 

"  The  great  lack  of  the  church  in  other  days  wTas  a 
want  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Savior  of  the 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVEXS    BALCH.  189 

world.  They  did  not  believe  he  would  do  what  he  had 
undertaken.  They  distrusted  the  means  and  method 
of  his  working.  They  believed  and  taught  the  defeat 
and  disaster  of  his  cause,  the  failure  of  his  mission. 

"When  was  the  world  so  ready  for  the  truth,  and  so 
ripe  for  the  sickle  as  to-day  ?  The  harvest  is  plenty. 
The  reapers  are  few.  Let  us  pray  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest to  send  more  and  better  reapers  into  His  field. 

"  What  we  need  most,  brethren,  as  I  view  it,  is  more 
self-consecration  —  more  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  less 
confidence  in  human  wisdom  ;  more  love  of  God  and 
less  self-esteem  ;  more  love  for  mankind,  and  less  desire 
of  personal  and  party  preferment ;  pure  hearts,  holier- 
lives  ;  more  of  the  attractive  forces  of  truth  and  love 
to  draw  into  a  warm-hearted,  devoted,  zealous,  work- 
ing brotherhood,  that  alone  and  together  we  may  work 
the  work  of  God.  We  believe  in  the  universal  love  of 
God ;  let  us  prove  it  by  working  after  the  pattern  of 
Jesus  —  loving,  and  seeking,  and  suffering  for  the 
good  of  mankind.  We  believe  in  the  salvation  of  all 
men  —  let  us  reject  none  from  our  tender  sympathy 
and  constant  concern.  We  believe  in  the  Universal 
Brotherhood  ;  let  us  love  as  brethren,  even  our  enemies, 
and  them  that  hate  and  persecute  us. 

t;  We  do  not  believe  in  party  schemes,  private  jeal- 
ousies and  personal  rivalries  ;  let  us  avoid  them.  We 
do  not  believe  in  endless  sin,  hate  and  misery  ;  let  us 
overcome  evil  with  good.  We  do  not  believe  in  popes, 
priests,  bishops,  immense  ecclesiastical  properties  and 
church  domination  over  personal  freedom  ;  let  us 
never  sink  into  them.  We  do  not  believe  in  money  to 
buy  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  let  our  hearts,  and 
souls,  and  bodies  be  sanctified  to  God,  with  all  our 
substance  for  His  most  glorious  work. 

"Our  name  is  a  good  one.  It  was  wisely  chosen  at 
the  baptism  of  our  denomination.  A  better  I  cannot 
conceive.  It  has  a  common  center  —  unity — and  a 
positive  declaration — one  God  and  Father  of    all ;  one 

13 


190  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

Lord,  the  Savior  of  all :  one  brotherhood,  one  fold.  It 
has  a  boundless  circumference,  it  accepts  all  truth, 
embraces  all  goodness,  rewards  all  virtue,  punishes 
all  vice,  saves  and  blesses  all  men.  It  overcomes  all 
evil,  corrects  all  error,  removes  all  wrong,  reconciles 
all  hearts  to  God.  It  is  universal.  It  cannot  be  con- 
fined or  restrained  to  become  narrow,  selfish,  sectarian, 
without  perverting  and  destroying  its  meaning  and 
intent.  I  love  it :  I  admire  it  ;  I  praise  it  ;  it  is  so  like 
in  all  His  works  :  so  like  Jesus  in  the  Gospel :  so 
like  the  spirit  of  truth. and  power  of  love  every  where.  I 
-  rdained  to  preach  it.  to  honor  it.  to  defend  it  from 
srsonal  pride,  and  party  prejudice  :  working  under  it 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  the  joy  of  hearts,  the  salva- 
tion of  men.  To  me  it  is  the  synonymn  of  all  that  is 
true,  and  pure,  and  good,  and  holy,  and  beautiful,  and 
lovely,  and  noble,  and  glorious  in  God.  in  man.  and  in 
ail  the  world.  It  comprehends  all  perfection,  is  all 
light,  life  love  and  immortality.  It  banishes  to  eternal 
oblivion  whatever  is  opposed  to  God  and  human  happi- 
ness; all  wrath,  enmity,  hatred,  variance,  everything 
impure,  false,  hateful,  all  sins,  sorrows,  suffering,  death 
and  corruption.  It  fills  the  soul  with  all  love,  peace, 
good-will,  joy.  and  attunes  the  heart  to  the  praise  of 
God.  It  embraces  the  faith  of  Jesus,  and  works  the 
work  of  God.  Beautiful,  harmonious,  significant  word 
—  Uxiversalism  !  May  it  always  live  in  its  spirit,  be 
honored  in  its  true  meaning  and  never  be  disgraced  by 
any  who  accept  it.  so  long  as  names  shall  be  needed  to 
distinguish  principles  and  ideas  —  the  faith,  hope  and 
characters  of  mortal  men." 

There  are  still  other  sermons  from  which  we  may 
make  less  generous  extracts  :  among  them  ,%  Creeds  and 
Sects  in  Heaven ;-'?  and  "What  Jesus  Taught."  Of 
the  former  of  these  we  find  him  saying,  that  ';  Jesus 
bore  witness  to  the  truth  in  its  highest  and  grandest 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  191 

revelation,  for  the  purification,  elevation,  perfection, 
salvation  of  man. 

"He  taught  that  by 'doing  the  will  of  God  we 
should  know  of  the  doctrine,'  that  we  should  know 
the  truth  and  that  the  truth  should  make  us  free. 

"  His  was  not  truth  in  the  abstract,  founded  on  state- 
ments, proposition,  problems,  and  formed  into  theories 
and  systems  by  curious  contrivance.  It  was  truth  in 
the  concrete,  issuing  from  the  Fountain  of  Life  itself, 
and  glowing  in  the  warmth  of  purified  affections,  holy 
desires,  in  light  and  love,  permeating  the  whole  heart, 
elevating  all  thought,  and  consecrating  eveiy  power  to 
personal  holiness  and  universal  good.  As  such  the 
Gospel  contains  truth  of  the  highest  importance  to  all 
men;  acceptable  to  all  who  love  righteousness, rejected 
by  none  who  seek  the  moral  devotion,  purity  and 
happiness  of  mankind. 

"  Who  shall  take  up  the  letter  of  a  creed  or  habit  of 
a  sect,  and  lay  it  as  a  stumbling  block  in  his  brother's 
way  \ 

"  The  terms  of  Christian  fellowship  are  plainly  and 
explicitly  stated  by  its  Divine  Author.  Xoneneed  mis- 
understand them,  none  should  limit  or  misapply  them. 
They  are  given  in  language  intelligible  to  all.  They 
accord  precisely  with  the  purest  and  holiest  affections, 
and  noblest  aspirations  of  every  soul.  They  need  but 
be  read  without  note  or  comment,  to  be  intelligible  to 
all.  They  interpret  themselves,  and  waken  an  echo  in 
every  heart.  The  philosopher  may  be  too  busy  with  his 
speculations,  the  scientist  with  his  theories/the  artist 
with  his  imaginings,  the  sectarian  dawdling  with  his 
creeds  and  forms  and  rules,  the  man  of  the  world  with 
the  hum  and  bustle  of  business  and  love  of  gain,  to  listen 
and  consider,  but  for  all  and  to  all  who  have  ears 
to  hear  and  hearts  to  feel,  it  speaks  but  one  language 
— love,  righteousness,  truth,  blessedness  perfect,  uni- 
versal, immortal. 

"Eight  here  comes  in  the  mistake  which  does  all  the 


192 


THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 


mischief  in  the  churches.  Instead  of  '  speaking  the 
truth  in  love ' — exhibiting  such  truth  as  we  think  we 
have  in  the  loving  spirit  of  the  Lord,  we  -assert  it  dog- 
matically as  the  absolute  and  ultimate  truth,  and  in 
language  others  may  not  understand  precisely  as  we 
do,  and  make  it  the  basis  of  fellowship  in  the  church 
of  God  which  is  the  fullness  of  Him  who  filleth  all  in 
all.  Or  rather  we  form  what  we  regard  as  truth  into 
a  creed,  and  not  able  to  explain  it  so  that  others  may 
know  it  to  be  the  truth,  we  demand  their  assent  to  it 
by  faith,  till  they  shall  find  it  to  be  truth.  In  so 
doing  we  reverse"  the  order  of  things,  and  pervert  the 
teaching  of  the  word,  by  making  faith  the  basis  b}r  dog- 
matic statement,  preceding  the  reception  of  the  spirit 
and  practice  of  Christianity." 

"  What  scene  is  grander,  more  beautiful,  more  like 
heaven  than  an  assembly  differing  in  name,  thought, 
creed,  and  character,  gathering  in  that  one  Name  which 
is  above  every  name,  before  the  throne  of  the  common 
Father,  there  to  invoke  his  blessing  alike  upon  all  men, 
and  eat  and  drink  in  memory  of  his  beloved  son,  our 
Lord  and  Savior,  as  brethren  and  sisters  of  a  common 
household !  Forgetting  all  differences,  all  distinctions ; 
each  humbly  and  devoutly  seeking  the  influence  of 
love,  the  guidance  of  the  spirit  of  truth,  that  he  may 
be  an  accepted  follower  of  Jesus,  and  live  in  love  and 
peace  with  all  mankind  ! 

"Precisely  what  shall  be  the  condition,  character, 
and  employment  of  the  heavenly  state  none  can  pre- 
tend to  know.  'Eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  hath  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  the  things 
which  God  has  prepared  for  those  that  love  him.'  Our 
ideas  of  the  future  are  colored,  deeply  shaded  by  our 
knowledge,  opinions  and  desires  in  the  present  life. 
The  two  are  connected  by  a  continuous  chain  whose 
links  are  fastened  so  close  and  strong,  that  in  thought 
it  is  difficult  to  separate  them. 

"  What  we  think  of,  hope  for,  call  heaven,  contains 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  193 

no  element  of  evil,  no  shadow  of  imperfection,  and  af- 
fords no  occasion  for  strife  and  contention.  The  very 
atmosphere  is  purity,  light,  life,  love,  bliss  immortal. 
There  is  no  night  there — no  darkness  at  all.  Therefore 
there  can  be  no  desire  nor  deed  of  evil ;  no  rivalry,  no 
pride,  no  hatred,  no  malice,  no  lust,  no  misery  ;  every 
one  shall  see  as  he  is  seen,  and  know,  as  he  is  known. 
They  shall  be  like  Jesus  ;  '  for  they  shall  see  him  as  he 
is,' — shall  be  changed  into  the  same  glory — from  glory 
to  glory  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord ;  and  God  shall  be 
all  in  all. 

"  There  may  be  difference  there  ;  but  no  dissensions. 
Some  will  be  no  more  than  babes  in  Christ,  but  an 
open  field  for  endless  progress  in  knowledge  and  good- 
ness will  be  for  all.  Comparatively  all  shall  be  reck- 
oned so;  for  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite  there 
is  an  eternity  for  growth  in  knowledge  and  perfection. 
Each  with  a  cup  full  and  running  over  shall  be  happy 
in  his  sphere,  being  good  and  doing  good.  Like  a  well- 
appointed  school  of  pure-hearted,  noble,  earnest  minded 
scholars,  all  anxious  to  learn,  waiting  to  receive,  ready 
to  impart,  loving,  true  and  faithful ;  no  en\\\  no  jeal- 
ousy, no  rivalry,  no  hazing  of  new-comers,  each  devoted 
to  the  other,  and  all  laboring  together  in  love  for  the 
good  of  all.  Such  are  our  ideas  of  heaven  and  of  what 
the  church  on  earth  should  be.  Jesus  the  great  Teacher, 
the  lover  and  Savior  of  the  world  is  Head  over  all  to 
the  Church,  which  is  his  bodv,  the  fullness  of  him  that 
filleth  all  in  all. 

"  Or,  Heaven  is  like  the  happy  home,  where  love 
flows  freely  from  parent  hearts  and  reaches  and  rules 
in  the  hearts  of  all  the  children.  !No  distinctions  are 
felt  between  oldest  and  youngest,  richest  and  poorest, 
wisest  and  simplest.  One  spirit  pervades  all  hearts, 
one  desire  moves  all  hands,  to  do  all  the  good  they  can, 
to  make  all  pleasant  and  happy.  Over  all  preside  lov- 
ing father  and  mother,  noting  the  difference  which, 
like  colors  and  forms  in  a  landscape,  give  beauty  by 


19i  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

variety,  and  watching  with  intense  satisfaction,  the 
order,  harmony  and  happiness  which  reign  in  all  the 
household." 

Of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  we  may  say.  that  a  few 
great  central,  simple  faiths,  or  beliefs,  truths  which 
were  lying  at  the  heart  of  Christianity,  constituted  "all 
there  was  of  his  gospel. 

"WHAT  DID  JESUS  TEACH? 

"  The  answer  to  this  question  would  be  easily  found, 
plain,  positive,  direct  and  satisfactory,  were  it  not  for 
the  obscurity  cast  over  the  teaching  of  Jesus  by  the  in- 
numerable diverse  and  contradictory  interpretations, 
commentaries,  paraphrases  and  perversions  of  preachers, 
professors  and  writers,  whose  eyes  are  dimmed  by  pre- 
judice;  whose  ears  are  dull  or  itching;  whose  judg- 
ments are  biassed  by  a  superstitious  adhesion  to  creeds, 
names,  forms  and  fashions  ;  whose  souls  are  too  sluggish, 
too  worldly  to  think  and  examine  carefully  ;  whose  rea- 
son is  too  restricted  by  the  decrees  of  councils  and  con- 
venticles, or  who  are  shorn  of  their  personal  liberty  and 
feeling  of  responsibility  by  a  tcime  and  perhaps  uncon- 
scious submission  to  usurped  ecclesiastical  authority 
over  them  by  men  no  wiser,  no  more  honest  or  rever- 
ent; no  better  than  themselves. 

"  Jesus  did  not  teach  his  disciples  that  they  must  sub- 
mit blindly  to  old  authorities  because  they  were  old, 
but  to  embrace  truth,  because  it  is  truth ;  and  do  right, 
because  it  is  right.  He  reminded  them  of  what  had 
been  taught  by  them  in  old  time,  by  priests  and  poten- 
tates; but  he  did  not  teach  them  to  obey  their  com- 
mands, right  or  wrong.  He  gave  them  a  higher  stand- 
ard, raised  them  above  the  traditions  and  authority  of 
the  elders.  He  brought  them  face  to  face  with  God, 
that  in  his  light  they  might  of  themselves  judge  what  is 
right.    '  The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God.'    In  his  light, 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  195 

shining  through  their  reason,  and  instructed  by  Jesus 
they  could  see  more  clearly  and  judge  more  wisely  than 
the  ancients.  He  did  not  teach  them  to  prefer  the  wis- 
dom of  men  to  'the  wisdom  that  is  from  above,  which 
is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  en- 
treated full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  par- 
tiality and  without  hypocrisy.'  He  did  not  teach  them 
to  follow  the  fashions  of  the  world,  or  the  church,  to 
covet  the  high  places  of  wealth,  position,  or  power. 

"  Jesus  gave  us  lessons  that  are  eminently  fit  and 
needful  for  all  to  learn.  His  advice  is  to  attend  to  the 
duties  of  to-day  and  not  be  worried  about  the  fate  of 
to-morrow ;  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  heaven — 
righteousness,  peace  and  joy,  in  the  holy  spirit ;  to 
obey  the  physical,  moral  and  spiritual  laws ;  to  do  to 
others  as  they  would  be  done  by ;  to  be  just  and  gener- 
ous; to  let  their  good  works  testify  the  goodness  of 
their  hearts,  the  correctness  of  their  principles,  the 
reality  of  their  religion;  in  short,  to  adopt 'and  prac- 
tice the  soundest,  plainest,  truest,  most  positive  and 
most  needed  principles  of  true  philosophy,  moral 
science  and  sincere  piety,  all  of  which  were  taught  in 
the  lessons  and  exemplified  in  the  conduct  of  Jesus. 

"What  more  or  better  could  Jesus  teach  than  he  has 
taught  \  What  more  does  the  world  need  to  save  it 
from  sin  and  sorrow  than  to  learn  and  obey  what  Jesus 
taught '.  What  could  God  do  more  to  save  and  help 
his  children  \  What  more  is  required  of  man  than  to 
love  God  and  his  neighbor  as  himself?  On  what  surer 
foundation  can  we  rest  our  hopes  than  the  love  of  God 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts,  to  prepare  us  for  the  duties 
and  conditions  of  this  life  under  all  circumstances,  for 
happiness  here  and  hereafter,  now  and  forever  \  Is  it 
not  easy  to  see  what  such  thought,  feeling,  action  and 
purpose,  such  confidence  in  God,  in  Christ,  in  truth 
and  love,  would  produce  in  the  religious,  moral,  social, 
business  and  political  world  ?  What  a  conquering 
power  for  good  Christianity  would  have  over  the  sins 


196  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

and  errors,  the  crimes,  the  follies,  the  miseries,  the 
meanness  and  littleness  now  so  prevalent  in  the  world, 
and  not  all  outside  the  churches  !  Who  believes  the 
world  can  be  saved,  the  work  of  Jesus  be  complete  and 
all  men  holy  and  happy  in  any  other  way  i  Why  is  it, 
then,  that  the  professed  followers  of  Jesus  will  not 
yield  their  prejudices,  crucify  their  selfishness,  cease 
their  contentions,  bury  the  creeds  invented  by  men 
and  supported  by  sects,  and  learn  of  the  Great  Teacher 
how  they  ought  to  live — how  they  must  live,  feel  and 
act,  like  brethren,  children  of  one  father,  redeemed  by 
one  Savior,  and  commanded  to  cherish  the  same  spirit, 
and  to  love  one  another  ? 

He  forewarned  men  of  the  strong  temptations  that 
come  f rum  high  places  more  than  from  low  ;  from 
secret  insinuations,  the  love  of  money,  and  the  influence 
of  those  who  are  the  lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  the 
lovers  of  God ;  of  those  who  seek  honor  without  merit, 
happiness  without  virtue,  and  heaven  by  pretension. 
He  indicated  that  it  was  easier  to  say  Lord,  Lord  than  it 
was  to  do  the  will  of  the  Father  in  heaven.  For  some  it 
seems  easier  to  quarrel  than  it  is  to  keep  the  peace. 

"  While  Jesus  mingled  with  the  humble  and  neglected, 
it  was  not  to  approve  their  conduct  or  condition,  but  to 
teach  those  who  were  willing  to  be  taught  by  Him. 
The  scribes  and  Pharisees,  the  rich,  the  great,  the  proud, 
the  self-righteous  would  not  listen  to  learn.  Therefore 
his  rebukes  fell  on  them,  and  His  labors  were  more  es- 
pecially bestowed  on  such  as  were  willing  to  be  con- 
vinced and  converted. 

"His  work  was  to  reform  and  save,  not  to  destroy. 
Lie  came  to  seek  and  to  save  what  was  lost,  but  worth 
saving.  He  taught  not  theory  without  practice,  but 
to  do  the  will  of  Gotl,  and  so  know  the  doctrine 
whether  of  God  or  men.  He  did  not  formulate  a  creed, 
write  a  systematic  body  of  divinity,  nor  establish  a 
hierarchy  to  overrule  the  consciences  of  men.  He 
taught  tii em  to  break  off  their  sins  by  righteousness, 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  107 

and  sin  no  more ;  to  be  humble  and  virtuous ;  to  lead 
quiet  and  peaceable  lives  in  all  godliness  and  honesty, 
that  their  sins  might  be  blotted  out,  and  a  time  of  re- 
freshing come  from  the  presenee  of  the  Lord,  such  as 
was  in  the  house  of  the  father  when  the  prodigal  came 
home.  He  made  the  path  of  duty  plainer,  the  motives 
to  right  living  stronger,  and  the  assurance  of  hope 
brighter  than  ever  taught  by  priest,  philosopher,  poet 
or  potentate  who  had  preceded  him. 

"  The  preaching  of  Jesus  and  His  deeds  of  mercy, 
wrought  without  respect  of  social  distinction,  soon 
attracted  much  attention  as  He  went  about  the  cities 
of  Galilee,  and  multitudes  followed  Him  to  hear  His 
words  and  see  His  works.  They  had  never  heard  of 
such  wonderful  things  before.  Doubtless  curiosity  first 
drew  them  about  Him.  The  more  thoughtful  Jews  were 
expecting  some  special  manifestation  in  behalf  of  their 
nation  about  that  time.  Their  prophets  had  foretold 
the  coming  of  a  Messiah  who  should  redeem  Israel 
from  foreign  servitude.  They  wondered  if  Jesus  was 
not  the  promised  Deliverer.  Greeks  and  Romans  and 
others,  dwelling  in  that  lovely  region,  became  also 
interested  and  anxious  to  learn  whereunto  these  things 
might  come. 

"  We  must  know  the  truth  before  we  can  enjoy 
its  freedom.  AVe  must  find  the  right  way  before 
Ave  can  walk  in  it.  AVe  must  have  faith  in  the  ob- 
ject sought,  or  we  shall  never  find  it.  We  must  ] "re- 
pare  our  hearts  for  the  blessings  we  desire,  or  there 
will  not  be  room  to  receive  them.  Error  does  not 
bring  freedom.  Sin  inflicts  misery.  Doubt  brings 
darkness  and  despair.  Unbelief  clouds  the  souls  and 
shuts  out  light  and  truth  and  love;  it  withers  affec- 
tion, blights  hope  and  stretches  on  a  bed  of  perpetual 
unrest.  Ignorance  is  night.  Indifference  is  procras- 
tination. Jesus  is  the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life  — 
the  light  of  the  world.     It  is  safe  to  follow  Him.'' 


19S  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

It  is  not  important  that  I  refer  to  a  large  number 
of  Mr.  Balch's  written  articles  and  addresses,  which 
his  fertile  pen  has  ever  been  furnishing  the  public. 
Thev  are  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  too  numerous 
to  more  than  barely  mention  a  very  few  of  them. 

u  The  changed  condition  of  thought  and  feeling, 
demanding  a  change  of  action,"  was  an  address  deliv- 
ered at  the  Elgin  Ministerial  Conference,  designed  to 
show  that  we  were  to  cultivate,  not  creeds,  differences 
of  opinion,  or  pride  of  condition,  but  the  seeds  of 
humility,  forbearance,  fraternity,  by  "  endeavoring  to 
keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace." 
He  was  sure  that  if  nominal  Christians  of  every  name 
would  adopt  and  follow  the  standard  of  Jesus  —  "By 
this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye 
have  love  one  to  another  "  — it  would  be  an  easy  task  to 
convert  the  world.  But  u  in  biting  and  devouring  one 
another  there  was  no  other  alternative  but  to  be  con- 
sumed one  of  another."  Sects  and  dogmas  were  and 
always  had  been  hindrances,  and  not  helps  in  the  work 
of  human  redemption.  Christians  were  to  follow  the 
counsels  by  which  they  were  to  "grow  up  into  Him 
who  was  the  head  in  all  things,  till  they  should  all 
come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  Let  them 
make  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus  their  model, 
and  there  would  be  no  division  among  them.  He 
thought  it  "  one  thing  to  help  build  a  sect,  and  another 
to  help  save  the  world.  It  was  ours  to  'take  up  our 
cross  and  follow  the  Savior'  among  the  lowly,  the 
common  people,  into  the  by-ways  and  hedges;  to  teach 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  199 

comfort  and  inspire  hope  and  assurance, of  success  in 
the  way  of  well-doing,  and  to  reprove,  rebuke  and 
exhort,  with  all  long-suffering  and  doctrine,  to  humility 
purity,  meekness,  good-will  and  good  works  towards 
all  men.' 

We  learn  from  him  that  it  had  "always  been  his.' 
aim  in  preaching  and  writing,  and  in  all  he  did,  to  'fol- 
low after  the  things  that  made  for  peace,  and  things 
whereby  one  might  edify  another,'  and  he  hoped  ever 
to  keep  clear  of  the  spirit  of  division  and  contention, 
and  labor  in  the  broad  field  of  impartial  love  and  be- 
nevolence.'' It  was  not  far  from  the  period  of  Brother 
Balch's  entrance  into  the  ministry  that  the  breaking  off 
of  the  party  known  as  the  Bestorationists  occurred,  and 
as  partisan  feeling  ran  high,  the  attempt  was  made  to 
draw  him  into  the  controversy  that  ensued,  but  he 
never  could  be  induced  to  take  sides.  He  deemed  it  a 
movement  that  was  destined  to  soon  spend  itself,  and 
it  was  because  he  refused  to  mix  with  it  that  he  was 
called  to  be  the  successor  at  Providence,  B.  I.,  of  David 
Pickering,  who  was  one  of  the  malcontents.  He  did 
not  stop  to  speculate  about  any  of  these  things.  He 
believed  "sin  would  be  punished  adequately,  for  it  in- 
volved punishment  as  something  inhering  in  it.  In  the 
event  of  a  man's  sinning  he  taught  that  he  must  suffer, 
or  be  punished,  for  he  must  take  the  consequences  of 
his  sins,  and  he  should  never  flatter  himself  that  he 
could  do  wrong  and  find  peace  in  it,  for  'there  was  no 
peace  to  the  wicked.'  Sin  punished  itself,  as  a  man 
takes  coals  of  fire  in  his  bosom  and  is  burned  by  them." 
He  did  not  believe  in  any  other  punishment  than  the 
consciousness  which  is  inseparable  from  a  wrong  intent, 


200  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

and  thought  it  enough  for  us  to  believe  that  "  so  long 
as  we  are  sinful  we  shall  be  miserable,  and  that  the 
sure  road  to  happiness  is  the  road  to  virtue  and  holi- 
ness. Mankind  were  to  suffer  punishment  until  they 
ceased  to  do  evil  and  learned  to  do  well ;  but  no 
•longer,  for  there  was  '  no  condemnation  to  them  who 
were  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walked  not  after  the  flesh 
but  after  the  spirit ;  for  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  had  made  them  free  from  the  law  of  sin 
and  death.'  If  a  man  sinned  through  eternity  he 
would  be  punished  through  eternity."  It  was  sin  that 
was  the  worst  thing ;  it  was  the  hell  of  the  universe  ; 
as  holiness  was  the  best  thing ;  the  heaven  of  God  and 
eternity. 

He  tells  us  for  what  God  punished  the  sinner,  that 
it  was  "  for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  and  benefiting 
him  ;  never  to  gratify  a  malignant  disposition  ;  and  for 
this  reason  it  made  no  great  difference  whether  the 
punishment  continued  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  since 
it  was  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment  of  a  glorious 
design."  And  in  view  of  this  he  remarks  :  "  We  see 
no  cause  of  controversy  upon  the  subject  of  future  pun- 
ishment viewed  in  this  light.  If  we  think  all  are  pun- 
ished enough  in  this  life,  or  if  we  think  some  ought  to 
have  more  hereafter,  we  can  see  no  good  reason  for 
quarreling  about  it.  Better  do  our  duty  here  and  now. 
Labor  and  toil  for  the  true  honor  and  happiness  of  our- 
selves and  fellow-men,  and  leave  the  event  with  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth,  for  lie  will  do  right.'''' 


%-:- 


In  an  article,  "  The  Future  of  Humanity :  An  Open 
Letter  to  Brothers  T.  J.  Sawyer  and  A.  A.  Miner,"  he 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCI1.  201 

treats  of  the  origin  of  sin,  and  the  change  of  this  life  to 
the  life  that  is  hereafter.  "  Sin  originated  in  the  earth" 
he  says,  "in  the  imperfection  and  weakness  of  human 
nature.  The  Bible  everywhere  treats  it  as  belonging  to, 
and  inhering  in  the  natural,animal,mortal,earthly  nature 
of  reasonable,  responsible  man.  It  keeps  a  plain  distinc- 
tion between  the  corruptible  and  incorruptible,  the  dis- 
honorable and  glorious,  the  weak  and  powerfubthe  nat- 
ural and  spiritual,  the  first  Adam  and  the  last  Adam, 
the  earthly  and  the  heavenly  ;  and  positively  asserts 
the  great  change  wrought  by  the  resurrection  from  one 
condition  to  the  other.  Natural  death  was  the  end  of 
man's  earthly  being — the  house  made  with  hands. 
The  resurrection  was  into  a  spiritual  state,  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.'' 

Of  the  change  from  this  to  the  future,  he  believed 
that  "all  would  enter  that  world  as  they  left  this,  but 
not  to  continue  in  an  unchanged  state,  but  to  be 
molded  and  fashioned  into  some  higher  order  of  beinsr 
and  blessedness."     He  asks  the  question  : 

"In  what  degree  of  spiritual  or  moral  advancement 
does  the  soul  enter  the  future  state?  We  have  no 
direct  revelation  by  word  to  give  in  answer.  But  it 
would  be  a  consistent  and  safe  conclusion,  that  it  enters 
that  world  in  a  degree  of  spiritual  attainment,  as  it 
leaves  this;  that  the  future  is  to  the  'inner  man'  a 
continuation  of  the  present  life  in  immortality.  With 
the  weaknesses,  imperfectness,  and  infirmities  of  the 
fleshly  earth-mind,  left  in  earth,  where  sin  originated 
and  dwelt,  the  soul,  disrobed  of  all  that  belonged  to 
time  and  sense,  like  a  slave  set  free,  starts  on  a  new 
career  with  light  and  love,  purity  and  peace,  joy  and 
rejoicing,  in  all  its  surroundings.  He  sees  himself  as 
he  is,  and  knows  himself  as  God  and  the  pure  of 
heart  know  him.  With  his  desires  all  pure,  and 
mental  faculties  quickened,  like  the  child  entering 
a  graded  school,  he  humbly  and  cheerfully  surrenders 


202"  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

his  will,  himself,  his  all,  to  the  direction  of  the 
loved  ones  who  recognize  and  gather  about  him  in 
purest  love  and  devotion,  to  help  him  on  the  upward, 
progressive  course  of  endless  growth  in  knowlege,  love 
and  worship,  toward  the  absolute,  the  infinite,  the  im- 
partial, the  all-perfect,  the  all-Father,  whom  to  know  is 
life  immortal." 

He  has  many  articles,  such  as  "  On  the  Situation," 
" Denominational  Policy,"  "The  Profession  of  Belief," 
"  How  to  Advance  the  Church,"  "  The  True  Object  of 
Keligious  Organization,"  etc.,  etc.  He  has  one  "  Fifty 
Years  Ago  and  Now,"  an  address  read  at  a  session  of 
the  Illinois  State  Convention,"  and  "  To  Whom  is  Uni- 
versalism  Acceptable  ?  "  I  make  brief  quotations  from 
each  of  these  ;  from  the  first : 

"  We  have,  of  late,  followed  too  closely  the  wisdom 
of  the  world  and  the  methods  of  other  churches.  We 
have  departed  from  the  simplicity,  zeal,  humility  and 
patient  working  of  fifty  years  ago.  We  do  not  live  in 
the  love  of  God,  nor  follow  the  example  of  Jesus.  We 
do  not  dwell  in  love,  and  God  does  not  dwell  in  us,  nor 
is  His  love  perfected  in  us.  It  is,  therefore,  not  fitting 
that  we  should  boast,  or  expect  to  prosper  and  triumph 
more  than  others.  Xor  should  we  pretend  to  be  like 
them,  seeing  there  is  a  radical  difference  in  doctrine. 
In  spirit  and  essentials  we  may  agree;  in  doctrine  there 
is  a  positive  and  eternal  antagonism.  Truth  is  still  to 
be  sought  and  its  spirit  to  be  cultivated  by  all  believers. 
But  we  have  reason  to  be  thankful  to  God,  and  take 
courage  from  what  has  been  accomplished  by  the  feeble 
labors  of  the  past;  even  that  other  men  are  entered  into 
them  and  are  reaping  their  fruits.  When  we  look 
upon  the  changed  condition  of  the  churches  and  note 
the  broadening  and  more  liberal  views  and  kindly 
feelings  prevailing  in  them,  and  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  generally,  comparing  fifty  years  ago  with  to-day, 


REV.  WILLIAM    BTEVENS    BALCH".  203 

we  do  rejoice,  and  we  will  rejoice  as  Paul  did,  that  the 
Gospel  of  love  is  preached,  and  is  doing  its  work,  by 
breaking  down  partition  walls,  letting  in  the  light  of 
God,  and  setting  at  liberty  them  that  were  bound. 
Were  we  to  indulge  a  speck  of  pride,  we  might  find 
mingled  in  the  causes,  if  not  prominent  among  them, 
the  labors  of  the  bold  and  earnest  advocates  of  the  uni- 
versal love  of  God  and  of  the  ultimate  salvation  of  the 
race.  We  would  claim  no  more  than  justice  can  grant. 
To  God  be  the  glory.  All  may  not  be  aware  of  the 
secret  permeating  influences  of  the  truths  they  de- 
fended, nor  be  willing  to  bestow  honor  where  honor  is 
due.  not  having  traced  the  motions  of  the  spirit:  while 
many  look  with  scorn  upon  those  led  by  it,  as  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  did  upon  the  lowly  man  of  Nazareth  and 
the  fishermen. of  Galilee.  Such  forget  that  God  some- 
times 'chooses  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  wise,  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  mighty,  and  things  despised,  and  things  that 
are  not.  to  bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are." 

TO  WHOM  IS  UNIVERSALIS}!  ACCEPTABLE? 

"  It  is  plain  enough  to  all  sober,  thinking  people  that 
the  doctrine  of  universal  love,  righteousness  and  salva- 
tion can  be  acceptable  only  to  those  of  broad  views  and 
generous  hearts,  who  wish  well  to  their  fellow-men. 
Narrow,  prejudiced,  bigoted  minds  cannot  comprehend 
it.  The  simple  statement  of  its  principles,  object  and 
ultimate  triumph,  meet  a  ready  and  affirmative  response 
in  all  free  souls  not  blinded  by  selfishness  and  false  edu- 
cation, by  worldly  wisdom  and  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
The  highest  attainments  of  reason,  and  the  purest  affec- 
tions and  holiest  desires  of  humble  and  uncorrupted 
hearts,  at  once  and  gladly  embrace  it,  and  fondly  cher- 
ish the  bright  hope  it  inspires.  '  The  common  people 
heard  Jesus  and  rejoiced.' 

"  Allow  me  to  quote  briefly  as  I  can  three  incidents 


201  TUE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

in  my  experience  which  serve  to  illustrate  very  clearly 
the  great  value  of  the  principles  Universalists  are  or- 
dained to  advocate  and  exemplify,  when  presented  to 
minds  never  prejudiced  against  them  by  false  teaching 
and  misrepresentation. 

"  One  beautiful  Sunday  morning  in  August,  1852,  a 
young  man  came  to  my  chamber,  where  I  sat  reading 
the  bold  prophecies  and  grand  descriptions  of  Isaiah, 
glancing  now  and  then  at  the  clear  white  summit  of 
Mount  Blanc,  and  the  sublime  scenery  spread  out  in 
front  and  on  either  hand.  He  said  the  landlord,  a  Ger- 
man, desired  me  to  preach  in  the  little  chapel  connected 
with  his  hotel.  I  answered  I  could  not  preach  in  Ger- 
man, French,  Italian  or  the  patois  of  Chamouny.  Soon 
after  he  returned,  saying  it  was  not  expected ;  but  as 
many  English  and  Americans  were  in  the  village  the 
service  was  desired  for  them,  and  as  no  other  preacher 
was  present,  I  consented,  without  any  time  for  prepa- 
ration. 

"  Some  sixty  or  seventy  were  gathered  in  the  chapel, 
all  but  a  few  entire  strangers  to  me.  A  Bible  and 
prayer-book  lay  on  the  desk.  I  did  not  know  how  to 
handle  the  latter.  As  I  rose  most  of  the  audience  rose 
also.  Kecalling  the  form  of  Protestant  worship  in 
France,  I  offered  a  brief  invocation,  and  then  proceeded 
m  our  usual  form.  Fortunately  I  had  just  read  Isaiah  ii  :- 
2,  '  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  day  that  the  mount- 
ain of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top 
of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills, 
and  all  nations  shall  flowT  unto  it.'  I  took  it  for  a  text. 
The  illustrations  were  near  at  hand,  clear  and  forcible. 
The  leading  thought  was,  Christianity,  pure  and  simple, 
is  above  everything  else,  and,  like  the  sun,  gives  light, 
heat  and  life,  where  nothing  selfish  and  worldly  inter- 
cepts its  influence.  All  distinctions,  like  morning 
shadows  disappear  before  the  light  and  love  of  God. 
Then  the  last  clause,  '  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  (into) 
it?    Things  flow  downward,  because  the  attraction  is 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  205 

belaid.  Place  the  magnet  above  the  needle,  it  just  as 
naturally  flows  to  it.  Jesus  has  a  name  above  every 
name :  He  has  gone  before,  is  risen,  ascended  up  on  high, 
and  when  the  Father's  love  penetrates  the  heart,  the 
knee  bends  in  deep  humility,  and  the  tongue  confesses 
Jesus  to  be  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  And 
thus  in  the  Divine  plan  Jesus  shall  reign  until  all  things- 
are  subdued,  and  all  hearts  are  reconciled  and  drawn 
unto  Him.  All  nations  shall  flow  into  the  house  — 
the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  fullness  of  Him  who 
fillet h  all  in  all. 

*•  On  retiring  a  gentleman  lingered  at  the  door.  As- 
I  was  about  to  pass  he  gave  me  his  hand,  saying,  '  I 
want  to  thank  you  for  your  sermon ;  it  is  what  all 
men  ought  to  hear  ;  it  would  level  all  distinctions  but 
those  of  merit,  end  all  wars  and  controversies,  and 
cause  peace,  love,  good-will  and  happiness  to  abound 
everywhere/  He  continued,  '  I  give  you  my  card 
and  extend  to  you  a  most  cordial  invitation  to  come  to 
my  castle  and  make  it  your  home  while  in  England.' 
The  next  day  we  started  for  the  circuit  of  Mt.  Blanc. 
We  met  his  lordship  at  some  distance.  He  beckoned 
me  to  stop,  descended  from  his  carriage  and  came  and 
desired  me  to  dismount  —  from  my  mule  —  and  be  in- 
troduced to  his  lady !  She  said  she  was  happy  to 
meet  a  man  whose  sermon  yesterday  had  made  so  deep 
an  impression  on  the  mind  of  his  lordship ;  that  he  had 
not  ceased  to  speak  of  it,  and  the  need  of  such  a  doc- 
trine to  convert  the  world.  She  heartily  joined  in  his 
invitation  to  be  at  home  in  their  castle.  I  need  not 
add  that  I  was  glad  the  truth,  simply  presented,  had 
made  an  impression  on  a  nobleman ;  but  I  was  more 
pleased  to  know  that  its  power  is  the  same  on  all  who 
receive  it. 

"On  the  Arabian  Desert  one  Christmas  eve  it  was 
proposed  by  some  of  our  pilgrims  to  have  a  religious 
service.  Being  the  only  preacher  present  I  was  urged 
to  hold  one.    Quite  a  congregation  coidd  be  gathered 

14 


206  THE    LIFE    AND    LA.BORS    OF 

from  a  camp  near  by — over  fifty  in  all.  I  preached  to 
them  Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  who  came  to  show 
all  men  their  Father,  to  teach  all  how  to  live  in  love, 
peace  and  good-will,  to  do  no  wrong,  to  restrain  all  evil 
thoughts  and  desires,  to  obey  the  Lord  and  hope  and 
strive  to  become  pure,  holy  and  happy,  and  prepare  for 
the  kingdom  the  Good  Father  has  prepared  for  all  His 
children,  where  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shep- 
herd. I  talked  slowly,  and  the  dragomen  interpreted  to 
those  about  them.  The  next  day,  and  every  day  after, 
when  I  met  them,  the  Moslems  and  others  would  drop 
one  knee  and  hold  out  their  right  hand  that  I  might 
lay  my  left  in  it  and  allow  them  to  kiss  the  back  of  it 
in  token  of  their  deep  reverence  of  me  as  a  Santon 
(saint)  of  Allah.  Those  I  met  after  my  return  from 
the  Upper  Nile  showed  the  same  respect.  I  admired 
their  devotion  to  the  few  flashes  of  light  that  dawned 
on  their  darkness,  but  I  pitied  them,  shut  up  in  the 
confines  of  ignorance  and  superstition. 

"  Six  months  after  my  return  to  New  York,  one  who 
heard  me,  our  cook,  came  to  my  house  in  his  Syrian 
costume,  and  after  kneeling  and"  kissing  my  hand,  said, 
'  I  have  come  to  America  to  learn  more  of  that  blessed 
doctrine  you  preached  on  the  desert,  that  I  may  tell  it 
to  my  people.'  I  embraced  him,  and  bade  him  never, 
in  this  land,  bend  his  knee  to  any  but  his  God,  and 
know  that  he  was  a  man  among  men. 

"  The  last  incident  I  will  name,  though  many  more 
might  be,  occurred  last  winter  in  Mexico.  Our  party 
who  had  ladies  was  invited  to  a  dinner  by  the  Nestor 
of  the  Mexican  press,  a  man  of  liberal  thought,  clear 
understanding  and  eminent  character.  He  had  been 
twice  banished  and  once  imprisoned  by  the  priestly 
party,  when  in  power,  in  that  oft-disturbed  country, 
but  is  now  esteemed  as  one  of  the  most  excellent  men 
in  the  land.  After  dinner  we  were  shown  through  his 
extensive  establishment,  his  pleasant  residence,  one 
room  in  which  is  adorned  with  leading  men  of  Europe 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  207 

and  America,  and  finally  into  his  editorial  sanctum, 
where  some  time  was  spent  in  conversation.  He  gave 
cards  to  our  party,  and  most  of  them  went  out  upon  the 
veranda  to  look  at  the  flowers  and  birds.  Turning  to 
his  son,  who  was  learning  French  (our  Spanish  inter- 
preter had  gone  out),  he  told  him  to  ask  me  if  I  was  a 
merchant.  I  answered  I  was  not,  but  a  preacher  (pas- 
tear),  which  the  lad  interpreted  into  padre.  A  deep 
scowl  swept  over  his  countenance,  and  he  was  about  to 
turn  away.  Comprehending  the  cause,  I  said  to  the  boy, 
*  Tell  your  father  I  am  not  a  priest,  but  a  preacher  of 
o-lad  tidings  for  all  men  ;  that  I  believe  and  teach  there 
is  one  God  the  Father  of  all,  one  brotherhood  of  all 
men  and  all  nations,  and  that  I  hope,  in  the  Father's 
good  time,  and  by  means  in  His  power,  all  will  be 
guided  onward  through  an  endless  life  in  continual 
progress,  in  ever  increasing  knowledge,  purity,  goodness 
and  happiness  towards  the  infinite  and  absolute  good- 
ness and  truth  and  love  constituting  immortal  blessed- 
ness.' I  said  it  slowly,  and  he  translated  so  his  fa- 
ther understood  it,  for  his  countenance  changed  and 
grew  brighter,  until  all  was  aglow  with  joy.  He 
grasped  my  hand,  and  told  his  son  to  say,  'Je  sins  ton 
jrere' — 'lam  your  brother.'  We  spent  some  time 
together,  answering  his  questions  as  well  as  I  could 
through  his  son.  He  gave  me  his  portrait,  engraved 
in  Spain  while  in  banishment,  another  card,  on  which 
he  expressed  his  gratitude  in  knowing  there  were  souls 
broad  and  free  as  his  own,  and  desiring  correspondence. 
He  also  asked  for  my  photograph,  and  sent  his  son 
with  me  to  our  hotel  to  obtain  it." 


CHAPTER    XI. 

LETTERS    AND    CORRESPONDENCE. 

BEOTHEK  Balch  had  a  wide  reputation  as  a  writer, 
and  there  is  found  among  his  writings  some  of 
the  finest  gems  of  thought  in  our  whole  literature. 
There  was  such  a  manifest  degree  of  ease,  and  a  racy, 
flowing  style  or  diction,  together  with  the  purest  of 
sentiment,  that  one  felt  that  he  was  taken  possession 
of,  and  no  other  impulse  was  so  strong,  as  to  be  has- 
tened on  in  the  reading  that  he  might  gain  the  utmost 
of  the  thought  that  was  being  expressed.  One  of  our 
ripest  thinkers  writes  me,  that  he  "  always  read  what- 
ever he  saw  from  his  pen,  not  alone  because  his  style 
was  pleasing,  but  usually  the  substance  was  interesting. 
There  were  few  persons  who  had  equal  observing  pow- 
ers, joined  with  equal  judgment,  and  still  further,  few 
have  had  equal  facility  of  language  to  detail  what  they 
saw."  The  letters  written  on  his  journeys,  and  espe- 
cially during  his  tour  in  Europe,  in  the  years  1852-53 
display  an  uncommon  power  of  narration  and  descrip- 
tion, a  talent  which  has  earned  for  him  distinguished 
reputation  in  a  province  of  literary  effort.  Containing 
as  they  do  many  highly  graphic  sketches  of  eminent  in- 
dividuals, and  remarkable  places  of  natural  scenery  and 
works  of  art,  a  high  degree  of  interest  attaches  to  them 
altogether  distinct  from  their  personal  associations.  Of 
themselves  they  must  have  been  read,  and  with  great- 

208 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  209 

est  pleasure,  by  any  intelligent  person,  however,  indif- 
ferent to  the  name  and  character  of  the  writer.' 

Brother  "Weaver  is  the  author  of  the  following : 

"When  a  youth  just  converted  to  Universal  ism,  I 
read  his  letters  from  abroad,  in  a  Universalist  paper 
published  in  New  York,  and  they  interested  me  in- 
tensely. It  was  my  first  taste  of  anything  of  the  kind. 
I  could  hardly  wait  from  week  to  week  for  them. 
They  were  read  in  the  family,  and  we  all  talked  over 
them.  I  thought  them  over  and  over  as  I  worked  in 
the  field.  The  reality  of  the  great  outside  world  came 
to  me  then,  as  it  had  not  before.  The  name  of  W.  S. 
Balch  came  to  be  a  kind  of  hallowed  thing  with  me. 
He  was  a  Universalist  minister;  he  was  traveling  in 
the  old  countries ;  he  was  writing  home  weekly  letters 
that  had  the  charm  of  revelations  to  me. "  Had  I 
known  that  he  was  born  and  reared  within  fifteen 
miles  of  me,  I  should  have  felt  even  more  stirred.  And 
had  I  dreamed  that  I  should  ever  know  him  person- 
ally, associate  with  him  as  a  brother,  eat  at  his  table 
and  join  with  him  in  public  service,  I  should  have 
thought  that  the  dream  related  to  heaven,  and  not  to 
earth.  I  am  certain  that  he  was  one  of  the  men  that 
waked  me  up  in  my  youth.  He  seemed  to  me  a  won- 
derful man,  and  after  his  return  home  I  read  every- 
thing from  his  pen  with  greatest  interest.  When  long 
years  after  I  came  to  get  acquainted  with  him.  I  was 
surprised  to  find  him  a  common,  humble  man,  just  the 
equal  associate  of  all  of  us,  and  particularly  genial  and 
sympathetic." 

Brother  Balch/s  letters  and  correspondence  alone, 
would  fill  many  books;  but  not  many  of  these  have  fallen 
under  my  own  eye.  He  held  a  large  correspondence 
with  a  person  in  Providence,  B.  I.,  and  for  a  large 
number  of  years,  but  I  have  not  gained  access  to  it. 


210  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

He  always  remembered  friends  with  a  great  deal  of 
cordiality,  and  warmth  of  attachment,  and  found  him- 
self writing  them  often.  He  made  a  practice  of  finish- 
ing up  his  correspondence  each  }Tear  as  it  drew  near 
its  close,  and  more  than  a  single  letter  of  his  begins  in 
the  following  manner :  "  My  Dear  Friend  ;  As  the 
year  draws  to  a  close  I  continue  my  invariable  custom 
and  settle  with  myself,  and  pay  all  debts  if  I  owe 
any,  and  try  and  commence  the  new  year  square  with 
the  world.  No  debt  can  be  more  sacred  than  that  of 
friendship.  That  can  never  be  all  paid,  more  than  the 
interest." 

I  find  another  of  these  letters,  "Dear  Friends  of 
Old  and  of  Now,"  which  starts  off  in  this  way  :  "  I  am 
(some  think)  too  apt  to  moralize.  It  is  near  the  end  of 
the  year,  when  all  accounts  should  be  settled  truly  and 
honestly  before  God,  especially  with  ourselves.  New 
Year's  day  has  been  for  me  an  important  day  since  I 
was  sixteen,  a  day  of  personal  settlement  with  myself, 
in  which  belongs  both  the  material  and  spiritual,  to  find 
what  the  debt  and  credit  should  be  in  this  critical  time. 
In  sight  of  eighty  I  am  more  than  ever  concerned  about 
the  balance  sheet ;  how  it  shall  be  when  the  year  shall 
be  gone.''  He  keeps  up  this  manner  till  within  a  month 
of  his  death,  for  November  27,  1887,  he  begins  a  letter, 
"Dear  Friends;  Sitting  alone  in  the  house  this  Sunday 
morning,  Mrs.  Balch  and  the  girl  gone  to  church,  I  be- 
gin thinking  of  old  friends  in  Vermont,  and  thoughts 
center  on  vou  and  yours  as  amono-  the  best.  So  here  I 
am  communing." 

He  begins  one  of  his  letters,  "  My  Dear  Bro.  of  Old 
and  Aiwa vs;"  calls  it  "An  Old  Clergyman's  Moralizing 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  211 

to  a  Friend,"  and  tells  us  that  it  is  to  an  "Octogenarian 
Believer;"  and  another  to  a   "Boy  Friend,"  which   I 

conclude  is  the  same,  and  the  form  of  address  is,  "My 
Dear  Old  Crony.-'  I  am  tempted  to  transcribe  extracts 
from  both  of  these  letters,  as  well  from  the  character 
of  them,  as  from  the  fact  of  having  received  a  letter 
from  this  same  octogenarian,  of  Andover,  Yt., 
signed  Geo.  AY.  Stickney,  containing  many  reminis- 
cences, looking  back  over  an  acquaintance,  and  stead- 
fast friendship  of  almost  eighty  years.  This  letter  I 
give  here  on  account  of  its  general  interest,  and  be- 
cause it  paves  the  way  for  the  others  to  follow  in  a 
kind  of  joint  relationship.     It  reads  as  follows  : 

"  Dear  Brother  : — Your  request  for  contributions  to 
the  biography  of  Bev.  Wm.  S.  Balch  has  recently  come 
to  my  notice.  From  our  earliest  childhood  William 
and  I  were  playmates.  He  was  born  on  the  farm  ad- 
joining on  the  west,  and  the  family  moved  a  year  or  so 
later  to  the  farm  on  the  northeast  of  that  to  which  my 
father  came  from  New  Hampshire  when  I  was  a  year 
and  a  half  old,  and  on  which  I  still  reside.  Through 
all  our  long  lives  we  have  been  warm  friends.  He  and 
I  spent  many  hours  at  the  forks  of  the  roads  leading 
to  our  homes,  before  separating  after  being  out  together 
from  home.  We  were  always  interested  in  talking 
over  and  investigating  the  affairs  of  life,  politics,  mor- 
als,  religion  and  trade.  "\Ye  spent  a  good  deal  of  time 
in  discussing  John  Calvin's  doctrines  and  the  false  con- 
ceptions of  God  and  religion  which  they  involved. 
We  boys  thought  them  horrible,  even  while  we  re- 
garded them  as  taught  in  the  Bible.  I  always  thought 
we  were  about  equal  in  our  studies  in  school,  but  when 
we  left  our  boyhood  he  left  me  far  behind,  as  I  plodded 
along  in  the  beaten  path  of  the  fathers,  while  he 
started  through  the  wilderness  of  life,  and  made  his 


212  THE    LIFE    AND    LABOKS    OF 

way  alone  to  fame,  and  his  track  is  a  beacon  light,  and 
a  mariner's  compass  for  all  young-  people  to  follow. 
Wm.  S.  Balcb,  without  a  college  diploma,  early  advan- 
tages of  wealth,  or  an  ancestry  of  great  statesmen, 
divines,  or  noted  jurists,  has  made  for  himself  a  name 
unaided,  except  by  his  genius,  and  determined  will  to 
do  something  for  tbe  good  of  mankind,  and  grandly 
has  be  succeeded. 

"  He  was  always  fond  of  finding  out  tbe  source  of 
everything  for  himself.  When  be  was  quite  young,  in 
making1  sugar  with  bis  brother  on  the  hill,  he  climbed 
a  tree  so  be  could  see  as  he  thought  the  source  of  West 
River.  This  was  the  make  of  the  man.  He  would  as- 
certain the  cause  and  origin  if  possible  of  everything 
that  came  under  his  observation.  Though  separated 
from  each  other,  we  were  alike  pioneers  in  the  temper- 
ance, and  anti-slavery  cause.  Afterwards  in  the  Leg- 
islature together,  I  remember  that  he  understood  every 
measure  that  came  up.  Those  which  agreed  with  his 
views  of  right  and  expediency  he  supported  with  ar- 
gument and  vote,  and  those  which  did  not  he  opposed 
as  strongly.  No  laws  were  enacted  that  escaped  his 
notice. 

"  Mr.  Balch  lectured  in  Montpeber  on  his  travels,  one 
evening,  and  a  Judge  Wilder  and  myself  persuaded  all 
the  members  of  the  Legislature  that  we  could  to  hear 
him.  There  was  a  dramatic  company  from  Boston  in 
town  the  same  night  which  drew  many,  but  those  who 
heard  the  lecture  were  delighted.  A  member  from 
Norwich  said  '  I  had  no  idea  that  we  had  such  a  man 
in  Vermont.' 

"Iara  more  than  pleased  that  the  biography  of  my 
dear  old  friend  is  to  be  written. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"Georg-e  W.  Stickxey." 

It  was  to  this  friend  that  the  following  letters 
were  inscribed.  The  one  written  last,  in  July,  1SS7,  I 
give  first.     It  was  addressed, 


BEY. WILLIAM   STEVENS    BALCH.  213 

••  My  Dear  Old  Friend  of  the  long  ago: — Sitting 
here  alone,  and  wandering  over  the  days  of  mv 
boyhood  and  since,  I  thought  of  that  spruce  tree 
at  the  forks  of  the  roads,  where  we  used  to  sit 
often,  and  talk  over  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  our 
business  in  it.  You  were  wiser  than  I,  and  older,  and 
I  deferred  to  you.  We  used  to  talk  of  Elder  Man- 
ning's sermons  about  religion,  conversion,  and  politi- 
cal matters  as  well,  and  things  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion. 

"  Well,  we  are  very  nearly  through  with  it ;  having 
done  our  work,  borne  our  crosses,  enjoyed  our  rewards, 
received  our  honors,  and  must,  not  long  hence,  bid  it 
farewell,  and  go  to  our  long  home,  to  continue  our 
journey  there,  relieved  of  the  burdens  of  the  flesh,  and 
with  keener  spiritual  powers,  in  spiritual  bodies,  pro- 
gress forever  in  the  higher,  holier  realm  of  light,  purity 
and  beauty,  towards  the  Unseen  and  Unknown,  but  the 
Infinite,  tiie  Absolute,  the  Immortal.  It  is  a  consoling, 
joyous  thought,  a  bright  and  glorious  hope,  that  here- 
after *  we  shall  know  as  we  are  known,'  and  forever 
rejoice  in  perfect  happiness  with  a  world  redeemed  and 
glorified.  In  such  thoughts  I  have  found  relief  in  all 
troubles,  strength  in  all  weakness,  and  a  light  above  all 
darkness.  How  then  can  we  lament  or  fear  to  pass 
through  the  dark  valley  to  the  more  shining  shore, 
where  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  the  life  that  is  forever.  We 
of  course,  cannot ;  for  so  long  as  we  hope  in  God,  our 
souls  are  quieted  within  us,  and  darkness  and  fear  fly 
away.  '  Even  now  are  we  the  children  of  God,  and  it 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we  know 
that  when  he  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is.  And  every  one  that  hath  this 
hope  in  him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure.' 
Blessed  saying,  joyous  hope  is  this.  I  would  all  men 
had  it.  To  it  1  have  given  the  best  thoughts  and  labors 
of  my  life,  that  they  might  have  it.  Although  my 
labors  have  been  feeble,  there  come  echoes  from  the 


214  THE    LIFE   AND   LABORS    OF 

long  past  —  from  sixty  years  ago  and  sweet  assurances 
all  the  way  to  the  present  from  the  souls  who  have 
listened  and  learned  and  hoped  through  my  ministra- 
tions. It  is  a  rich  comfort  in  my  afternoon  medita- 
tions, worth  more  to  me  than  the  proudest  honors  and 
the  greatest  wealth  the  world  could  bestow. 

"Let  us  rejoice  my  brother,  that  our  final  salvation  is 
nearer  than  when  we  first  believed.  The  world  is 
behind,  heaven  within  and  before  us.     Amen. 

"There,  I  have  spun  these  thoughts  as  rapidly  as 
our  mothers  and  sisters  spun  their  threads  when  we 
were  boys.     I  hope  you  can  read  them  and  respond. 

"  I  suppose  you  are  in  the  work-field  as  when  we  last 
met,  and  I  wish  I  was  able  to  be  there  with  you.  My 
health  is  fairly  good,  except  my  chronic  complaint  for 
which  doctors  know  no  cure.  Were  I  comfortably 
well  as  last  year  I  would  now  be  in  Vermont.  I  hope 
to  hear  from  you  soon.  Regards  to  family  and 
friends. 

"Fraternally, 

"W.  S.  Balch/' 

In  another  of  these  letters  he  follows  up  this  strain 
somewhat.  His  mind  is  called  to  the  death  of  a 
daughter  many  years  before,  and  he  writes: 

"It  brought  back  memories  of  our  long  past,  and 
stirred  me  so  deeply  that  I  catch  up  my  pen  to  express 
the  kindly  feelings  which  have  survived  all  changes  of 
time  and  place  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  live 
still,  fresh  and  vital  as  ever.  Is  there  not  found  in 
such  a  continuance  of  the  purest,  best  and  noblest 
affections,  a  ground  of  hope  that  they  will  continue  and 
increase  through  all  future  changes — rising  and  aspir- 
ing and  progressing,  on  and  onward,  forever  toward 
the  perfect,  constituting  personal,  mutual  and  eternal 
happiness. 

ki  Unlike  the  lower  order  of  beings,  man  is  never 
satisfied  with  what  he  he  is,  or  what  he  has,  or   what 


EEV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  215 

he  does.  His  desires  reach  for  something  more.  Nei- 
ther is  the  individual,  nor  the  race  content  to  stop  think- 
ing, desiring  or  progressing.  If  there  is  for  him  no 
future  for  progress  and  improvement,  he  is  a  failure  in 
the  works  of  creation — the  greatest  and  saddest  that 
can  be  conceived.  Every  other  creature  manifestly 
finishes  his  work,  makes  no  improvement,  unless  taught 
by  man.  but  dies  satisfied,  hoping  for  and  preparing 
for  nothing  more  for  itself  or  those  to  come  after.  It 
is  not  so  with  man.  AVhen  a  work  is  done  he  looks  at 
it,  and  sees  how  it  could  be  improved.  Thus  he  im- 
proves, and  thus  he  advances,  but  never  finds  an  end. 
The  generation  coming  after  takes  up  the  unfinished 
and  carries  it  forward.  Are  these  unceasing  desires,, 
immortal  capacities  and  unfinished  works  to  fail  when 
the  body  dies  \  The  instruments  may  be  impaired  or 
changed,  through  which  the  mind  and  heart  communi- 
cate their  hidden  powers  to  mortal  eyes  and  ears.  The 
mind  lives  while  the  body  sleeps.  When  the  soul  en- 
ters the  'house  not  made  with  hands,'  wthe  spiritual 
body,  such  as  God  shall  give  it  —  to  every  seed  his  own 
body,'  it  shall  be  revived  with  superior  powers  and 
better  opportunities,  with  no  hindrances  of  the  earthly 
body  to  prevent  the  spiritual  faculties  from  running  t he- 
race  set  before  it.  Bearing  'the  image  of  the  heaven- 
ly '  it  shall  seek  after  and  enjoy  heavenly  things,  en- 
tering anew  upon  a  course  of  endless  progress  and  im- 
mortal happiness.  Can  the  soul  of  man  be  satisfied,  or 
the  will  and  work  of  God  be  complete,  with  anything 
short  of  such  a  destiny  \  Such  a  hope  can  never  be 
disappointed.     Let  us  cherish  it." 

The  letter  to  which  I  referred,  commencing  " My* 

Dear  Old  Crony,"  reads  as  follows: 

"It  has  been  a  rule  of  my  life,  ever  since  I  was  a 
boy,  to  look  over  my  little  affairs  at  the  close  of  each 
year  and  settle  with  myself,  and  find  how  I  stood  in 
relation  to  things  about  and  within  me.     As  I  have 


216  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

heeded  the  instruction,  '  Owe  no  man  anything,  but  to 
love  one  another,'  it  has  been  a  short  and  easy  work 
to  square  all  accounts  financially.  The  difficult  part 
has  been  to  heed  the  latter  clause,  so  as  to  settle  with 
myself  morally,  socially,  religiously.  In  this  it  has 
not  been  so  difficult  to  find  what  I  have  done  as  what 
I  have  neglected  to  do.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  much 
better  it  would  have  been  had  I  done  differently.  I  did 
not  see  it  then.  I  suppose  it  is  so  with  all  men.  This 
year  is  near  its  close,  and  I  have  reduced  my  pile  of 
unanswered  letters  to  three.  This  morning  must  clear 
the  deck  for  future  action. 

"We  were  boys  together,  you  some  months  the 
•older.  We  are  now  old  men  and  not  together.  A 
thousand  miles  separate  our  bodies,  not  our  minds,  nor 
our  hearts.  Space  and  time  can  not  divide  them,  and 
•conditions  should  not  fetter  them.  As  you  say,  our 
ways  through  life  have  led  in  directions  divergent,  not 
wholly  so,  only  in  the  outward  life  and  living.  The 
inner,  spirit  lite,  is  not  controlled  by  outward  circum- 
stance or  condition.  It  abides  the  same.  It  may  be 
shrouded  at  times  like  sunshine  in  storms,  and  perverted 
by  selfishness  and  pride,  but  the  clouds  blown  away, 
the  sky  is  clearer  and  the  sun  warmer,  and  the  evening 
more  beautiful  than  ever. 

"  You  have  remained  quiet  in  your  rural  mountain 
borne,  amid  the  romantic  scenes  oi  our  childhood.  I 
have  been  drifted  hither  and  thither  about  the  world. 
I  may  have  seen  more  of  the  outward  distinctions  among 
men,' the  vast  differences  between  the  dead  past  and 
the  living  present;  while  you  have  nourished  the  ele- 
ments of  social  rural  life.  You  may  have  thought  it 
your  misfortune  that  you  have  not  seen  more  of  the 
toiling,  striving,  clashing  outside  world,  and  had  more 
Imowledge  of  men  and  things  in  their  vast  varieties 
and  striking  contrasts.  I  have  seen  too  much  of  them, 
until  the  deep  convicted  soul  refuses  to  be  comforted 
until  the  valleys  of  vice  and  degradation  are  filled  up, 


KEV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  217 

the  hills  of  pride  and  oppression  are  digged  down,  the 
crooked  ways  of  sin  and  selfishness  are  straightened  by 
virtue  and  philanthropy,  and  the  rough  places  of  social,, 
political  and  religious  life  are  made  smooth,  and  all 
flesh  see  the  salvation  of  God.  It  is  my  misfortune  that 
I  have  seen  too  much  of  the  world  as  it  was  and  isr 
which,  like  mountain  barriers  whose  dark  sides  rise  so 
high  as  to  obscure  the  light  and  glory  of  what  is  be- 
yond. Your  sympathy  has  not  been  "so  heavily  taxed 
by  the  sight  of  the  ruined,  oppressed,  neglected,  down- 
trodden sons  and  daughters  of  our  common  humanity, 
nor  your  wrath  been  kindled  at  the  display  of  selfish- 
ness and  pride,  clothed  in  the  robes  of  royalty  and 
wrong,  sitting  on  thrones  of  ease  and  luxury  in  state 
or  church,  or  scheming  in  the  highway  of  traffic  for 
more  gain. 

"  You  and  I  grew  up  where  none  were  rich,  and  none 
were  poor,  and  every  sign  of  pride  or  assumed  supe- 
riority was  shamed  into  humility  or  silence.  If  a  man 
desired  an  office,  it  was  fatal  to  let  it  be  known.  If  he 
wanted  friends  he  must  be  friendly.  Aristocrats  were 
rare,  and  when  seen,  were  shunned.  All  naturally  de- 
sire to  see  and  know,  but  when  they  come  to  feel,  the 
better  sentiments  are  stirred,  and  'a  change  comes  o'er 
the  spirit  of  our  dreams,'  and  stern  realities  confront  us 
at  every  step,  and  '  we  are  compelled  to  admit  that 
where  ignorance  is  bliss  'tis  folly  to  be  wise.'  The 
ways  of  God's  government  are  not  so  unequal  as  some 
imagine.  He  renders  to  every  man  according  to  what 
he  is  and  does,  and  not  to  what  lie  pretends.  Every 
man  receives  what  he  deserves,  or  God  is  not  just. 

"  YTe  are  neither  rich  nor  crreat,  as  men  decide  it. 
What  of  it  \    AYe  used  to  read  in  our  lesson  — 

A  competence  is  all  we  can  enjoy; 

Oh,  be  content  where  heaven  can  give  no  more. 

"  That  has  been  a  motto  of  my  life.  I  am  glad  I 
am  not  a  millionare,  or  have  many  thousands  to  be 


518  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

troubled  with.  I  was  once  offered  8200,000  to  take 
care  of  a  rich  man's  business  five  years,  until  his  son 
could  manage  it.  It  was  a  strong  temptation  ;  but  I 
respectfully  declined  it.  I  knew  a  man  made  crazy  by 
drawing  a  lottery  prize  of  $20,000.  What  could  I  do 
with  ten  times  that  amount  ?  You  on  your  hill  farm, 
and  1  in  my  cozy  home  and  garden,  are  free  from  the 
cares  and  anxieties  of  the  rich  and  fashionable.  Wealth 
spoils  many ;  the  strife  to  get  it  many  more. 

"Well,  brother,  we  are  nearing  the  bank  of  the 
river  all  must  cross  or  sink  !  To  me  it  looks  bright  and 
beautiful  on  the  other  shore.  Those  I  have  loved  beckon 
me  to  them,   and  sweet  voices  sing 

Welcome  to  all;  'tis  free,  and  fresh,  and  fair. 

'•When  the  angel  comes,  I'll  take  the  proffered 
hand,  shut  my  eyes  on  all  that  is  not  good  and  pure 
and  true  and  holy  and  cheerfully  launch  into  the 
placid  stream,  not  doubting  the  angels  of  God's  mercy 
will  land  me  safe  on  the  shore  of  the  immortal,  to  meet 
.and  mingle  with  all  the  beloved — the  redeemed  of  the 
Lord,  in  a  bliss  that  shall  never  cloy.  I  hope  you  have 
an  equal  faitr.  and  hope  that  we  shall  meet  there  and 
be  happy  forever  more." 

There  are  several  letters  to  his  old  friend  Have- 
meyer,  of  Xew  York  City,  one  of  which  was  penned 
when  past  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  in 
which  he  tells  him : 

"  We  are  in  good  health,  all  of  the  family,  and  com- 
fortable, and  being  all  the  spring,  fixing  in  a  quiet  hum- 
ble way,  in  doors  and  out,  my  mind  and  body  have  been 
kept  in  a.  good  condition.  I  am  satisfied,  and  more  than 
satisfied,  in  seeing  all  looking  nicely  in  garden 
orchard  and  lawn.  I  have  climbed  oaks  forty  and  fifty 
feet,  to  prune  into  a  more  living  condition  by  removing 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  210 

dead  branches.  Neighbors  say  I  am  reckless,  but  care- 
fulness gives  safety  even  in  old  age.  I  am  asked  what 
I  have  to  do  without  a  parish  1  I  will  answer  that  I 
am  comfortably  situated,  and  am  fairly  content  in  con- 
templating the  past,  still  busy  with  the  present,  and 
hopeful  of  a  happy  and  immortal  future." 

You  will  understand  that  Brother  Balch  has  now  left 
his  parish  in  Dubuque,  and  was  never  settled  after  it, 
but  he  is  cheery,  and  just  as  anxious  for  the  cause  as 
when  he  first  assumed  to  work  for  it.  After  this  he  is 
away  in  California,  and  Brother  Tuttle  is  a  way.  and  meet- 
ing him  in  San  Francisco,  writes  back  that  he  heard  him 
sigh  as  vigorously  as  any  young  apostle  of  the  ministry 
could  have  done,  over  the  depressed  condition  of  our 
cause  in  that  city,  and  seemed  as  anxious  to  enter  the 
work  of  resuscitating  it.  "Let  us*'  said  he  "call  the 
friends  together  at  some  place  and  talk  with  them.'' 
He  found  him  preaching  as  usual  in  Doctor  Hamilton's 
pulpit. 

He  continues  to  tell  us.  "  The  world  has  gone  well 
with  me  on  the  whole,  and  I  have  tried  to  go  well 
with  it.  The  Lord  has  blessed  me,  and  for  fifty-five 
years  I  have  been  prosperous  beyond  all  I  deserved  or 
dared  to  hope.  I  have  always  found  an  open  field,  and 
work  enough  and  good  friends,  both  as  a  settled 
pastor  and  outside  worker.  So  gracious  and  bountiful 
is  the  ffood  Father  to  honest,  patient  and  earnest  en- 
deavor." 

Speaking  of  his  being  no  longer  under  bonds  to 
serve  a  particular  parish,  he  says : 

i£  I  never  was  much  fettered  in  my  free- 
dom,    but     always     religiously     observant     to     ful- 


220  THE    LIFE    AND    LABOBS    OF 

fill  all  obligations.  Time  wears  away,  and  age 
steals  on,  but  God  and  love  and  truth  and  good- 
ness are  forever  the  same,  unchanged  and  everlasting. 
I  now  have  it  in  my  heart  tcTaccept  an  invitation  to  be  in 
New  York  a  Sabbath  or  two,  and  at  a  wedding  the  6th 
of  June.  I  am  proposing  to  revisit  some  of  the  fields 
and  scences  of  my  former  labors.  Alas,  how  changed 
all  will  appear.  Sad  will  it  be  to  be  gazed  at  by 
strangers,  where  good  friends  and  co-laborers  once 
lived,  and  to  hear  them  whisper,  '  What  old  man  is 
that  ?  Do  you  know  him  \ '  and  to  ask  for  this  and 
that  playmate  of  childhood,  and  strong  friends  in  ma- 
ture years,  and  be  told  'Gone  to  the  better  land,'  '  re- 
moved to  a  distant  part  of  the  country '  '  old '  '  de- 
crepit '  '  ready  to  go  farther  over  the  river  to  the 
house  not  made  with  hands.'  Ah,  me,  but  so  it  is ; 
and  we  must  become  familiar  by  faith  and  hope  with 
what  is  to  be.  Let  us  be  thankful  and  enjoy  what  Ave 
have  while  we  may,  and  trust  in  God  for  the  rest. 
There  is  sufficient  provided  for  all  needs,  in  all  condi- 
tions of  life.  But  in  absence  from  friends  we  are  de- 
prived of  the  blessings  of  social  life,  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  happiness,  second  only  to  the  inward  peace 
that  comes  from  the  consciousness  of  having  cultivated 
right  principles  and  affections,  and  done  the  duties  ap- 
pointed us  by  the  loving  Father.  I  have  tried  to  live  so 
that  others  might  have  confidence  in  me,  to  deserve 
their  confidence  if  I  did  not  receive  it.  Looking  back 
over  seventy  years  of  responsibility,  I  am  grateful  in 
believing  that  others  have  bestowed  upon  me  as  a 
whole  all  I  deserved.  What  more  could  I  claim  \  Yet 
we  are  all  indebted,  the  payment  of  which  will  consti- 
tute an  element  in  the  joy  of  heaven. 

"  So  much  prose  "  he  says  "  by  way  of  introduction." 

But  we  have  his  confession.     "  It  does  seem  a  little 

strange  to  me  to  be  without  a  regular  round  of  duty  to 

follow,  day  after  day,  year  in  and  year  out,  as  I  have 


EEV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALGH.  221 

done  for  more  than  half  a  century.  Active  as  1  have 
been — like  Martha,  ;  careful  about  many  things  ' — I  do 
feel  somewhat  lost  to  be  a  boarder  in  my  own  house  ; 
but  I  am  not  so  desperately  situated  that  I  have  noth- 
ing- to  do.  As  ever,  I  am  thinking  and  working,  accord- 
ing  to  opportunity,  to  help  convert  and  save  the  world. 
I  find  it  is  not  saved,  nor  very  safe.  As  I  go  about, 
and  look  and  learn,  I  find  there  is  much  work  to  be 
done  in  all  departments,  in  the  church  and  out  of  it.  be- 
fore the  earth  will  be  full  of  '  righteousness,  peace  and 

joy-' " 

Brother  Ealch  is  writing  the  friend  who,  he  says. 
heard  the  second  sermon  that  he  ever  preached  (that 
is,  the  first  sermon  out  of  his  study  I  take  it,  and  the 
man  I  conclude  from  whom  he  received  the  first  money 
that  was  ever  paid  him,  $4,)  and  says: 

?  I  am  no  longer  a  settled  pastor,  but  preach  as 
opportunity,  offers  among  all  the  denominations: 
always  my  Universalism,  in  the  true  and  broad,  not 
the  sectarian  sense.  I  find  I  am  more  complimented 
for  preaching  the  principles  of  universal  love,  brother- 
hood, holiness  and  happiness  among  them,  than  among 
our  own.  To  them  they  are  fresher,  more  attractive, 
inspiring  better  hopes  than  they  have  dared  cherish. 
We  are  too  indifferent,  too  neglectful  of  our  great 
opportunities,  and  value  not  our  blessings  as  we  should. 
Are  Ave  not  responsible?  Everyday  I  am  more  and 
more  convinced  that  the  Gospel  presented  in  a  plain 
and  simple  manner  without  human  fixtures  and  adorn- 
ments, theological  dictum  or  ecclesiastical  authorities, 
is  needed,  and  is  of  sufficient  power  to  unite  the  church 
and  save  the  world.  There  is  but  little  doubt  that  sec- 
tarianism, in  its  chamelion  hues,  is  one  of  the  chief 
hindrances  to  the  union,  prosperity  and  speedy  triumph 
of  the  Christian  church.    How  much  better  it  is  to  have 

15 


222  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

good  hearts  in  the  people,  and  to  teach  mankind  that 
an  honest  endeaver  to  gain  the  good  and  the  true  is 
preferable  to  any  amount  of  creed  we  may  elaborate. 
It  is  not  through  human  creeds  or  sectarian  names  that 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  seen  coming.  When  will 
we  come  to  think  thus,  and  act  accordingly  ?  " 

A  Brother  Pierce,  of  Providence,  furnishes  a  good 
example  of  this.  He  tells  of  meeting  Brother  Balch 
in  Florida,  and  as  the  Baptist  church  had  been  some- 
time without  a  pastor  he  took  occasion  to  recommend 
to  a  Deacon  "Walker  of  that  church  that  he  procure  the 
services  of  this  man  as  a  distinguished  preacher  who  had 
been  settled  in  New  York  for  quite  a  number  of  years. 
And  so  the  Deacon  called  upon  him  effecting  the 
arrangement,  and  the  word  was  sent  out  to  all  the 
region  round  about.  When  the  Sunday  came  it  was 
pleasant,  and  a  large  congregation  gathered  to  hear 
the  new  preacher.  Dr.  Balch  was  at  his  best,  and 
went  gracefully  into  the  pulpit,  and  after  the  reading 
and  singing  a  hymn,  a  fervent  prayer  was  rendered, 
and  then  another  hymn,  when  he  took  for  his  text 
"  God  is  love,''  and  for  a  full  hour  all  eyes  and  ears 
were  fixed  upon  him,  and  the  words  he  gave  forth. 
He  seemed  to  hold  the  audience  spell-bound,  the  most 
perfect  silence  reigning  throughout  the  congregation. 
When  church  was  dismissed  he  was  surronuded  by  a 
large  number  of  hand-shakers  for  the  longest  time. 
The  next  day  he  was  waited  upon  by  Deacon  Walker 
to  see  if  he  could  be  had  for  further  supply,or  for  a  settle- 
ment, when  Brother  Balch  informed  him  that  he  was  a 
Universalist  minister,  and  had  preached  that  doctrine 
for  more  than  fifty  years.     The  good  deacon  was  dumb- 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  223 

founded,  and  dropping  his  head  for  a  half  a  minute  he 
said,  "  Well,  that  was  a  good  sermon  yesterday,  any- 
how,v  and  retired. 

It  must  be  said  for  Brother  Balch  that  he  has  helped 
to  win  for  his  denomination  a  self-merited  recognition. 
The  truth  is,  everybody  loves  Universalism  just  as  soon 
as  it  is  brought  to  them  in  its  beauty  and  purity.  It  is 
a  word  that  is  nigh  to  us  all.  It  is  in  our  mouths,  and 
in  our  hearts;  that  is,  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach. 
How  often  has  it  welcomed  our  Brother  to  the  pulpits 
of  those  of  the  contrary  part,  and  what  a  work  has  it 
done  for  us  in  helping  to  disabuse  the  general  public  of 
their  erroneous  opinions  of  the  Gospel  of  "  the  grace  of 
God  which  bringeth  salvation  to  all  men,  and  teaches 
us  that  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts  we 
should  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly  in  this  pres- 
ent world." 

I  can  not  but  think  of  him  as  having  been  raised  up 
for  a  peculiar  work,  and  we  may  properly  revere  the 
wisdom  he  displayed  in  adapting  himself  to  the  age 
and  events  amidst  which  he  was  called  to  act.  Xo 
doubt  the  circumstances  and  time  together  with  the 
natural  goodness  of  his  heart,  had  much  to  do  in  making 
him  what  he  was,  and  we  would  not  here  indulge  in 
the  language  of  indiscriminate  eulogy,  since  the  parts 
assigned  men  in  the  same  work  are  widely  diverse,  and 
their  stations  are  fixed  at  different  epochs  in  its  prog- 
ress. The  fathers  in  the  ministry  may  have  done, 
each  and  all  nobly  the  work  of  their  generation,  and  so 
far  we  should  emulate  their  praiseworthy  lives,  and 
catch  their  elevated  spirit;  but  that  God,  as  did  the 
times,  called  for  our  Brother,  is  sufficiently  evinced  by 


22 4:  REV.  WILLIAM  STEVENS    BALCH. 

the  fact  of  his  coming  when  most  needed.  Xo  man,  I 
suppose,  could  commence  at  its  close  and  live  his  own 
life  over.  The  world  can  never  have  a  second  Ballou, 
or  Channing,  for  the  conjunction  of  circumstances  in 
which  each  acted  can  never  recur.  The  only  niche  in  the 
temple  of  history  fitted  for  such  a  man  as  Mr,  Balch 
is  filled,  and  the  record  or  chapter  sealed  up. 

I  find  where  he  has  written  letters  and  essays  of  a 
great  variety  of  character,  and  on  a  great  variety  of 
subjects.  He  has  a  letter  to  "  The  Mayor  of  Provi- 
dence," "  To  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Is- 
land,' "The  President  of  the  United  States,"  "The 
People  of  the  United  States,"  and  "  The  Pope  of  Rome." 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

JOURNEYS    AND    TRAVELS. 

MK.  BALCII  was  a  great  admirer  of  nature,  and 
loved  the  hills  and  valleys  of  his  native  State. 
He  had  a  heart  to  appreciate  the  ever  varying  grandeur 
and  loveliness  which  nature  constantly  lavishes  upon 
her  beholder,  and  it  made  him  delight  in  travel  where 
his  soul  could  be  feasted  with  landscape  and  beauty. 
He,  himself,  tells  us  that  "Reared  among  rural  scenes, 
with  but  few  books,  and  little  time  to  read,  he  early 
learned  to  love  natural  scenery."  Mountains  and 
valleys,  meadows  and  forests,  were  always  before  him 
in  his  youthful  days.  At  school,  geography,  we  are 
told,  was  his  favorite  study,  and  books  of  travel  he 
devoured  with  keenest  relish.  Xo  doubt  his  desire  for 
travel  was  induced  in  a  measure,  at  least,  by  the  beauty 
and  sublimity  of  some  of  the  finest  scenery  on  the 
earth's  surface,  and  in  the  midst  of  which  he  had  his 
birth.  And  then,  too,  he  informs  us  that  reading  the 
Bible  his  soul  was  stirred  with  sacred  story  so  poetic- 
ally described,  and  a  desire  to  go  and  see,  and  live  and 
learn,  became  a  leading  object  in  all  his  thoughts  and 
dreams. 

I  may  quote  him  where  lie  says  : 

"In  my  youthful  days  I  lived  among  the  romantic 
mountains  of  my  native  State.     My  father's  dwelling  was 

225 


226  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

i 

situated  on  a  hillside,  with  a  deep  valley  opening  towards 
the  southeast,  down  which  ran  a  babbling  brook,  while 
along  the  west,  a  mile  distant,  was  stretched  a  frowning 
ridge  of  mountains.  From  the  window  of  my  chamber 
I  could  look  far  down  that  valley,  and,  in  a  clear  day, 
see  the  grand  Monad  nock,  at  a  distance  of  fifty  miles, 
towering,  in  proud  and  solitary  majesty,  high  above 
all  surrounding  objects.  In  spring  and  summer  I  used 
to  see  the  sun  rise  from  behind  it,  and  I  wondered 
where  it  came  from.  Close  by  its  base  lived  maternal 
grandfather,  who,  during  his  patriarchal  visits,  often 
told  us  about  that  mountain,  and  the  magnificent 
scenery  presented  to  the  view  of  one  still  farther  away 
upon  its  summit.  While  listening  to  him  my  young 
heart  burned  with  a  desire  to  stand  upon  the  top  of 
that  mountain  and  gaze  over  all  the  world,  which  I 
thought  could  be  easilv  done  from  a  position  so 
lofty." 

He  tells  us  further,  "  I  wanted  to  go  into  the  world 
and  see  it.  Every  hill  and  tree  and  rock  and  rill  and 
leafy  blossom,  had  become  familiar  to  me,  and  I  longed 
for  something  more,  and  that  which  should  seem  to  be 
new.  "With  what  profound  attention  I  listened  to  the 
stories  of  those  who  had  been  about  the  world,  when 
they  talked  with  ray  father,  and  detailed  what  they 
had  seen.1' 

He  had  learned  to  love  the  religion  of  the  great 
Teacher,  Jesus,  and  the  passion  had  grown  with  him 
that  he  must  visit  that  land  of  Judea  and  Galilee,  and 
view  the  places  where  the  Saviour  stood,  and  made 
ever  memorable  by  His  words  of  truth  and  love.  It 
was  his  fondest  dream  from  early  boyhood.  "  To  me," 
he  says,  "  the  most  interesting  portions  of  the  earth 
were  Greece  and  Rome  and  the  Holy  Land.  Around  the 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  227 

last  were  clustered  the  memories  and  feelings  awakened 
by  a  perusal  of  my  mother's  Bible.  Ever  since  I  could 
read  the  Holy  Book  I  have  longed  to  go  and  see  the 
places  where  were  performed  the  sacred  dramas  de- 
scribed in  its  pages  ;  to  climb  over  Lebanon,  and  rest 
in  the  shadow  of  its  cedars  ;  to  wander  through  the 
valley  of  Esdraelon.  and  among  the  hills  of  Samaria  ; 
to  wet  my  feet  in  the  dews  of  Ilermon.  and  bathe  in 
the  floods  of  Jordan;  to  eat  fish  on  the  shores  of  Ge- 
nesareth,  and  drink  water  from  Jacob's  well ;  to  repose 
in  the  cave  of  Elijah,  and  gather  roses  on  the  plains  of 
Sharon  ;  to  stand  upon  Olivet,  and  look  upon  the  joy 
of  the  whole  earth  ;  to  go  through  Jerusalem,  along 
the  Via  Dolorosa  to  Calvary  and  the  tomb  of  Arima- 
thea.  I  have  studied  hard  to  understand  its  descrip- 
tive language,  that  I  might  rejoice  in  the  blessed 
truths  of  the  Bible.  To  see  or  to  touch  these  objects 
and  find  them  realities  would  remove  the  last  doubt, 
and  every  description  would  'become  plain  and  forcible, 
and  seal  its  truth  upon  the  heart. 

"  Nor  was  my  young  ambition  confined  to  the 
scenes  of  Jewry,  rich  as  they  are  in  the  records  of 
startling  events,  for  my  reading  led  me  to  classic 
Greece  and  the  world-conquering  Rome,  around  whose 
histories  there  circles  a  vagueness  like  that  which  has 
fallen  on  the  land  of  miracles — the  scene  of  man's  re- 
demption. As  one  reads,  he  desires  to  see,  and  I 
longed  to  visit  Mars  Hill  and  the  pass  of  Thermopylae ; 
to  see  the  ruins  of  the  Eternal  City  and  its  living  monu- 
ments ;  to  cross  the  Alps  at  St.  Bernard  and  hear  Mass 
in  St.  Peter's.  The  more  modern  nations  likewise  have 
their  attractions — their  temples  of  pride,  their  galleries 


228  THE    LIFE  AXI)    LABORS    OF 

of  art,  their  museums  of  curiosities,  their  libraries  of 
printed  knowledge,  their  old  feudal  castles,  the  work- 
ing of  aristocratic  institutions  upon  the  condition  of  the 
masses  of  the  people.  These  and  a  thousand  other  con- 
siderations whetted  my  ambition  and  led  me  to  form  a 
plan  to  visit  the  old  world,  which  became  the  study  of 
my  days  and  the  dream  of  my  nights.-' 

Mr.  Balch  was  an  observing  traveler.  He  had  an 
eye  for  seeing,  and  it  did  seem  as  though  never  any- 
thing escaped  his  notice.  He  liked  to  quote  the  pas- 
sage of  Scripture,  "  The  eye  is  never  satisfied  with 
seeing,  nor  the  ear  with  hearing."  And  his  descrip- 
tive powers  being  large,  he  could  tell  you  all  about 
scenes  he  visited,  and  make  you  see  them  frequently 
better  than  your  own  eyes  would  have  served  you  for 
such  a  purpose. 

He  had  a  style  of  expressing  himself  of  great  clear- 
ness and  force,  as  well  as  of  directness  and  earnestness. 
The  writings  of  such  a  man  are  all  valuable.  As  com- 
positions alone  there  are  few  better  specimens  in  the 
language,  and  their  sentiment  is  always  pure  and  ele- 
vating. A  moral  healthfulness  distinguished  all  he 
wrote.  It  does  us  good  always  to  read  what  inspires 
us  with  right  sentiments,  and  he.  with  his  enthusiastic 
love  of  truth  and  o-oodness,  which  runs  through  all  his 
writings  as  a  very  high  excellence,  forever  inspired  these 
in  the  hearts  of  others.  It  need  not  surprise  us,  his  being 
so  wonderfully  interesting  in  conversation,  and  in  his 
lectures  upon  travel,  there  were  so  many  incidents  to 
relate  of  a  pleasurable  character  that  his  keen  percep- 
tion had   caught.     How  many  will  tell  you  of  having 


REV.  WILLIAM    8TEVEN8    BALCH.  ^2(.» 

heard  some  one  of  these  lectures,  or  of  reading  them 
when  published,  and  the  pleasure  thus  given  them;  or 
how  they  have  been  charmed  and  strengthened  by  his 
marvelous  utterances.  Chancing  to  meet  a  friend  who 
had  heard  Mr.  Balch  tell  on  a  single  occasion  of  his 
Oriental  experiences,  he  declared  that  "his  descriptive 
powers  were  such  as  to  leave  him  without  a  peer  on 
any  platform  of  orators." 

He  had  witnessed  his  "  holding  an  assembly  two 
whole  hours  in  rapt  attention,  and  they  had  listened 
with  bated  breath  to  his  graphic  illustrations,  and 
singularly  felicitous  descriptions  of  scenery.''  He 
averred  that  "  he  would  take  a  scene  from  Scripture 
history,  such  as  for  instance  the  going  up  to  Jerusalem  ; 
or  Christ  before  Pilate;  or  bearing  His  cross  to  the 
place  of  execution  ;  and  draw  a  word-picture  with  such 
vividness  as  to  make  his  audience  see  it  as  plainly  as 
though  an  artist  had  taken  his  brush  and  drawn  it  upon 
canvas.''  It  was  the  remark  of  Doctor  Cantwell  that 
a  Brother  Balch  might  leave  Chicago  in  the  morning  to 
go  to  Detroit,  arriving  there  in  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon,  when  it  should  be  announced  that  he  would 
lecture  on  that  same  evening  in  some  place  provided 
for  him,  giving  a  description  of  the  many  scenes  and 
incidents  transpiring  by  the  way,  and  he  would  be  most 
likely  to  collect  a  crowd  of  hearers  who  would  listen 
with  the  greatest  delight."  There  are  numberless  per- 
sons who  have  sat  for  hours  and  listened  with  marvel- 
ous interest  to  his  brilliant  talks  of  the  ruined  cities 
of  the  old  world,  and  the  causes  of  their  overthrow  and 
decay,  with  the  lessons  thence  to  be  derived  for  the  in- 
struction and  warning  of  modern  cities  and  nations,  till 


230  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

they  have  imagined  themselves  on  the  spot,  seeing 
everything  just  as  he  had  looked  upon  them  with  his 
natural  eyes. 

Prof.  J.  S.  Lee,  of  Canton,  N".  Y.,  describing  a 
scene  which  he  witnessed  many  years  ago,  after  the 
close  of  the  annual  session  of  the  Vermont  State  Con- 
vention of  riniversalists  hoi  den  at  Stowe,  says  :  "  The 
members  of  the  convention  and  others,  to  the  number 
of  some  2,000  climbed  to  the  summit  of  Mansfield 
Mountain,  one  of  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tain range.  Brother  Balch  being  present  was  invited 
to  address  them,  and  accepted  the  invitation,  proposing 
to  indulge  in  some  casual  remarks.  But  some  of  the 
friends  urged  that  he  should  take  a  text,  and  preach 
them  a  sermon.  This  he  was  reluctant  to  do,  but  upon 
being  further  importuned  he  said  he  would  gratify  them, 
and  announced  as  his  text  Isaiah  xi :  9  :  '  Get  thee  up 
into  the  mountain,'  and  for  an  hour  he  poured  out  a 
volume  of  eloquence,  mingling  instruction,  anecdote, 
moral  application,  appeal,  description  and  amusing  de- 
tail, which  delighted,  entranced  and  uplifted  his  audi- 
ence to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm.  They  de- 
scended that  lofty  height  not  simply  filled  with  the 
wonders  of  that  wide  and  grand  stretch  of  natural 
scenery  which  had  been  spread  out  before  them,  but 
with  admiration  inspired  by  the  orator's  noble  senti- 
ments, and  matchless  beauty  of  style. 

"In  the  course  of  his  address  he  compared  the  view 
as  witnessed  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Tabor  over 
the  fields  of  Palestine,  with  the  scene  as  witnessed  from 
the  spot  where  we  were  standing,  and  presented  such  a 
picture   as  shall  never   be   effaced  from  my    memory. 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALGH.  231 

From  that  hour  may  be  dated  my  love  for  the  mountain 
scenery  of  the  Holy  Land  which  afterwards  led  me 
thither." 

He  also  tells  that  on  another  occasion,  when  there 
had  been  a  meeting  of  this  same  State  Convention  *•  the 
ministers  met  at  a  private  house,  and  listened  to  his 
familiar  talk  on  the  Holy  Land.  He  was  in  one  of  his 
best  moods,  and  he  painted  in  glowing  colors  his  obser- 
vations and  his  adventures.  We  were  all  intensely  in- 
terested. We  sat  there  in  mute  astonishment  and  ad- 
miration far  into  the  night,  and  did  not  feel  the  least 
weariness  over  his  fascinating  talk.  I  have  scarcely 
ever  in  my  life  spent  a  more  delightful  evening,  or  been 
so  highly  entertained  by  the  conversation  of  a  human 
being.  When  he  got  into  his  subject  he  was  full  of 
enthusiasm,  and  his  soul  glowed  as  with  poetic  fire,  and 
he  poured  forth  a  matchless  stream  of  inspiring  de- 
scription, and  generous  sentiment  which  held  his  hear- 
ers spell-bound. " 

Such  is  the  expression  of  so  many  who  have  delight- 
ed to  follow  him  in  sermon  and  story  and  travel.  A 
minister  of  the  denomination,  (himself  an  author) 
writes  me,  "  I  was  surprised  a  short  time  since  as  I  talked 
with  him  about  his  foreign  travels,  and  his  knowledge 
of  men  and  things  abroad.  It  seemed  that  like  a  Bay- 
ard Taylor,  or  a  Humboldt,  nothing  could  have  escaped 
him  which  could  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  any  thought- 
ful person.  And  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  his  pro- 
fession he  was  equally  proficient.  While  sometimes 
adhering  to  special  opinions  more  persistently  than 
others  might  have  done,  he  combined  the  philosopher 
with  the  theologian  in  a  most  remarkable  degree." 


232  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

Such  then  is  our  traveler,  who  goes  abroad  and 
visits  also  every  part  of  his  own  country,  to  see  and  to 
learn  as  he  telis  us.  and  to  be  better  prepared  for  use- 
fulness in  his  profession.  "  I  go  "  he  says,  "  neither  as 
a  philosopher,  sage  or  poet ,  but  simply  as  a  plain  man, 
curious  to  see,  and  anxious  to  learn  all  I  can  in  a  given 
time :  not  to  see  large  countries,  long  rivers,  and  vast 
mountain  ranges.  These  we  have  at  home  in  their 
proudest  splendors,  save  perhaps  the  glaciered  Alps. 
I  go  to  see  what  mind  and  toil  and  ages  have  done ;  to 
trace  the  footsteps  of  humanity,  as  they  come  along 
down  from  the  infant  of  days,  rising  and  stumbling, 
and  falling,  and  rising  to  stumble  and  fall  again. 

In  speaking  of  what  it  might  become  him  to  say  or 
think  of  foreign  countries,  he  remarks: 

"  Of  course  I  must  measure  everything  by  such  stan- 
dard as  I  have  formed,  and  pronounce  my  own  judgment 
upon  it.  I  have  not  gone  from  home  to  ape  the  manners 
of  others,  or  to  change  my  own  notions  and  habits  that 
they  may  conform  to  those  abroad  ;  to  be  pleased  with 
everything  foreign,  and  dissatisfied  with  the  plain, 
homespun  habits  of  my  own  country.  Neither  am  I 
to  carry  a  bigoted  attachment  to  the  customs  and  insti- 
tutions under  which  I  was  reared.  I  should  go  with- 
out prejudice,  and  under  the  influence  of  a  principle 
broad  and  deep,  which  recognizes  kings  as  companions, 
beggars  as  equals,  and  all  men  as  brethren.  I  ought 
to  carry  with  me  a  disposition  to  study  the  true,  ap- 
prove the  good,  honor  the  honorable,  and  admire  the 
beautiful. 

"  That  I  love  my  own  country  and  its  liberal  institu- 
tions, and  more  and  more  as  I  see  those  of  others,  I 
will  not  deny,  but  that  does  not  impair  my  judgment, 
nor  blind  my  sense  of  justice  to  these  other  lands.  Is 
it  not  the  dictate  of  Christianity  to  rise  above  all  local 


BEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    I5AI.CH.  233 

and  national  distinctions  in  our  estimate  of  right  and 
wrong,  of  good  and  evil  ?  Is  not  such  the  dictate  of 
our  higher  nature?  I  must  be  pardoned  for  any  free- 
dom I  may  use  in  expressing  my  opinions.  If  1  write 
at  all.  I  must  write  as  I  think.  I  must  express  what 
I  feel,  and  describe  what  I  see." 


Mr.  Balch's  first  considerable  journeying  from  home 
was  in  a  visit  paid  with  his  old  friend  and  intimate 
companion,  Mr.  Havemeyer,  of  the  city  of  New  York 
to  the  then  Western  country,  in  1842.  In  speaking  of 
this  Mr.  Havemeyer  says,  "I  again  traveled  with  him 
in  1848,  the  period  of  revolution  on  the  continent  of 
Eurone,  and  arranged  to  visit  Palestine  for  a  short 
period,  but  was  prevented  by  the  troubles  of  that  year, 
which  made  it  difficult  to  go  further  than  Rome."  It 
was  on  his  return,  after  spending  considerable  time  in 
Great  Britain,  and  Ireland  especially,  that  his  work 
"  Ireland  as  I  saw  It"  was  written;  a  book  of  real  merit, 
and  full  of  the  most  interesting  scenes,  giving  a  correct 
view  of  the  character  of  the  people,  and  the  causes  of 
their  poverty  and  wretchedness.  Another  in  reviewing 
this  work  says,  "  He  is  very  severe  in  his  strictures  upon 
the  English  Government,  and  the  priesthood,  and  the 
landlords.  The  scenes  of  poverty  described  are  heart- 
rending, and  we  should  suppose  would  call  forth  sym- 
pathy enough  from  the  English  Xation  to  have  some- 
thing done  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the 
people.  The  author  recommends  measures  for  educat- 
ing the  people,  and  is  confident  that  if  all  were  educat- 
ed, Ireland  would  rise  from  its  degradation. 

There  are  several  things  brought  forward  in  this 


234  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

work  too  valuable  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  He 
shows  what  vast  hordes  of  human  beings,  the  children 
of  the  same  Father  of  himself,  and  brothers  of  the 
same  great  family,  are  doomed  to  the  most  abject  serv- 
itude by  the  working  of  a  system  of  wrong  from 
which  there  is  no  escape  but  by  expatiating  themselves 
to  seek  an  asylum  in  a  foreign  country.  He  thinks  it 
fortunate  that  they  have  no  homes,  no  loved  domestic 
hearths  to  leave  behind  as  they  skulk  away,  for  they 
hate  their  miserable  cabins,  and  the  lords  who  oppress 
them.  He  is  sure  that  there  is  not  a  link  to  attach 
them  to  their  native  shores,  as  they  flee  like  captives 
escaped  from  cruel  bondage,  cheered  for  the  briefest 
period  it  may  be  by  the  fancied  prospect  before  them 
of  comfort  and  competence,  from  which  they  are  so 
liable  to  awaken  in  the  dark,  dirty  lanes  and  base- 
ments of  our  cities,  sorely  disappointed  and  discouraged 
for  a  life-time.  His  remedy  for  it  all  is.  that  "  right  be 
respected,  industry  encouraged,  innocence  protected, 
and  prosperity  and  happiness  be  suffered  to  prevail  in 
all  parts  of  the  kingdom/'  He  claims  that  "the  teach- 
ers of  religion  are  under  a  fearful  responsibility — and 
who  shall  escape  \  He  prays  that  the  Lord  may  give 
o-race  and  mercy." 

He  preaches  to  the  people,  marveling  that  they 
should  be  able  to  do  as  well  as  they  do.  but  tells  them 
that  "  they  must  learn  to  help  themselves.  They  must 
abjure  their  own  clannishness,  repudiate  their  bigotry, 
and  be  willing  to  conform  like  good  citizens,  to  the  req- 
uisitions of  free,  liberal  and  equitable  institutions.  He 
admonishes  that  the  practical  doctrines  and  precepts  of 
Christianity  be  brought  before  the  people,  and  their 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  235 

perfect  and  beautiful  adapted ness  to  all  the  affairs  and 
conditions  of  men  be  shown,  remembering  that  Christ 
came  to  establish  a  kingdom  of  holiness  and  virtue 
among  men ;  that  with  Him  the  distinctions  of  earth  are 
nothing;  that  each  and  all  are  held  directly  and  person- 
ally responsible  to  God  for  every  act  and  word  and 
thought;  that  the  poor  oppressed  and  outcast  have  a 
friend  and  defender  in  Him  whose  cause  He  will  plead, 
and  whose  wrongs  He  will  avenge  ;  that  He  abhors  the 
forms  and  fashions  of  religion  which  disguise  the 
truth,  corrupt  the  heart  and  deceive  the  world  ;  that 
He  requires  righteousness  in  the  inward  parts,  purity  of 
soul,  and  a  perfect  life.  Could  these  things  be  under- 
stood and  felt,  he  ventures  to  prophesy  that  a  most 
favorable  result  might  be  expected/' 

But  then  he  does  not  forget  that  the  chief  cause  of 
Ireland's  insufferable  misery  and  shame  was  found 
lying  in  another  direction.  "  It  had  never  risen  from 
its  crushed  condition.  The  lion's  paw  was  laid  heavily 
upon  it,  and  it  writhed  in  agony.  If  it  showed  the 
least  disposition  to  turn  itself  in  order  to  be  relieved  of 
its  painful  attitude,  the  old  lion  growled  and  showed 
its  teeth  all  sharp  for  destruction,  and  the  poor  decrepit 
creature  laid  down  as  quietly  as  it  could,  and  licked  the 
foot  of  its  oppressor,  burying  deeper  its  miseries  which 
gnawed  still  further  into  the  very  heart  of  its  existence." 
There  are  those  in  England,  he  reminds  them.  u  who 
would  tear  the  whole  carcass  in  pieces  at  once,  and  de- 
stroy it  forever,  making  the  Emerald  Isle  a  province 
into  which  they  might  introduce  colonies  of  their  own 
wretched  population.  But  heaven  has  reserved  this 
country   for  some  other  end.  if  not  for  freedom  and 


236  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

honor,  to  be  as  at  present  the  manufactory  of  a  race 
which  is  spreading  itself  like  the  old  Teutons,  among 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  for  some  purpose  which 
shall  be  hereafter  made  manifest.  But  while  waiting 
for  their  destiny,  their  very  looks,  dejected  and  heart- 
broken, indicate  their  unhappiness,  their  filth  and  rags 
their  poverty.  Numbers  of  them  are  seen  everywhere 
idle,  because  there  is  nothing  for  them  to  do.  Beggars 
are  met  at  every  turn,  who  promise  liberally  in  heaven's 
name  for  the  smallest  pittance  bestowed  upon  them/' 

"  Talk  of  Southern  slavery,"  he  exclaims.  "  In 
practice  it  is  not  a  thousandth  part  as  wrong,  as  cruel, 
and  abominable  as  the  tenant  system  of  Ireland.  The 
slaveholder  is  obliged  to  treat  his  slaves  mercifully,  to 
provide  for  them  in  sickness  and  old  age,  and  always 
give  them  enough  to  eat.  But  in  Ireland,  if  the  rent 
is  not  paid  the  constable  is  called  in,  and  the  tenant  dis- 
trained, and  if  he  cannot  pay  he  is  evicted,  wife  and 
children  turned  penniless  upon  the  world  to  dig  a  shel- 
ter in  a  bog,  or  build  one  by  the  stone  wall,  and  get 
his  food  as  best  he  can.  He  is  hunted  out  of  his  miser- 
able hovel  as  if  he  were  a  rat,  and  the  land  refuses 
him  so  much  as  a  hole  for  a  shelter.  The  workhouse 
is  full,  and  the  jail  is  a  relief ;  but  with  the  slave-master 
it  is  his  interest  that  the  slave  shall  have  so  much  care 
and  quiet  as  shall  make  him  health}7-  for  his  task,  and 
render  him  both  profitable  and  marketable.  I  abom- 
inate the  American  slave  system  from  the  bottom  of  my 
soul.  What  then  must  be  my  feelings  in  the  midst  of 
such  scenes  of  wrong  and  suffering  as  abounds  in  all 
parts  of  this  ill-fated  country.     They  are  indescribable. 

'  Oh  England,  thou  boasted  land  of  freedom  and 


REV.    WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALOH.  237 

justice,  of  philosophy  and  nobleness,  of  religion  and 
philanthropy,  English  laws  the  models  of  Christian 
jurisprudence,  British  honor  and  magnanimity,  spirit 
of  Blackstone  and  Wilberforce,  speeches  of  Peel  and 
Russell,  glory  of  Wellington,  himself  an  Irishman, 
pride  and  extravagance  of  Victoria !  What  meaneth 
these  roofless  huts,  these  starved  stomachs,  cadaverous 
faces,  naked  limbs,  and  scattered  corpses  ?  Have  ye 
compassion  for  the  well-fed,  laughing,  singing,  shining 
black  men  of  sorrowful  fate  ?  It  is  well.  But  remem- 
ber, charity  begins  at  home.  When  you  have  purged 
away  the  wrongs  and  miseries  of  your  own  sea-girt 
isles,  then  come  to  our  relief.  But  till  then  stand 
mute  in  shame. 

Mr.  Balch  says  of  all  this,  "  I  own  that  I  have 
touched  upon  some  delicate  points,  trenched  upon  opin- 
ions by  some  held  sacred,  and  described  things  which 
might  have  been  let  alone,  for  which  some  will  con- 
demn, and  nobody  praise  me.  It  is  all  the  same  to 
me  if  I  have  told  the  truth.  Facts  will  remain,  and 
my  opinions  go  for  what  they  are  worth.  I  gazed  with 
astonishment  and  admiration  on  much  I  saw,  and  my 
heart  yearned  deeply  over  the  wrongs,  oppressions,  ig- 
norance and  misery  I  beheld.  I  saw  more  to  approve 
in  the  character  of  the  people  than  I  expected  ;  more 
to  lament  in  their  condition,  and  more  to  condemn  in 
the  operation  of  aristocratic  institutions.  My  sympa- 
thies have  ever  been  with  the  common  people,  and  for 
their  sakes  I  ask  to  be  heard.  1  commenced  my  jour- 
ney among  them  with  a  determination  to  pay  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  condition  of  the  masses — to  keep 
along  the  side-hill  of  life,  so  as  to  see  below  as  well  as 
16 


the  life  an:    ulb   bs 

above  me,  and  calculate  the  chances  for  the  impr* 
ment  of  the  one,  and  to  amuse  myself  with  the  pro 
displays  of  e  both— 

kings    and  queens   in  the::  aces  s1 

with  cottiers  on  the  banks  of  the  Shannon  :  i  od 

with  the  pe:  -  _ 

the  lazzaroi:  and  I  hi  my  estimate 

of  things  as  they  a i  and  in  writing  them 

tried  to  be  s  in   details  that  others  might 

what  I  -  -  I  have  felt."     In  th 

himself   in  full    sympathy  with   the   righting  of 
wrongs  ssing  the  feebler  classes. 

His  whole  heart  went  out  for  the  abatement  of  every 
kind  of  evil,  for  did  he  not  have  an  ear  f or  1 
abuses  of  our  times,  and  of  all  tim- 

If  I  might  enter  a  word  here  in  regard  to  Mr. 
Balch's  political  opinions.  I  would  say  that  he  »  mid 
hardly  be  said  to  have   ha«  isnal 

sense  of  the  of    being  allied  to  a  party,  to   be 

bound  by  the  p.  tics.  We  may  claim  for  him  that 

he  was  about  the  freest  from  policy  or  contrivance 
any  man  you  often  meet.     It  is  true  th; 
itician.  as  one  being       rsed  in   the  science  of   _ 
me:.".  ; ministration  of  national  ur  pub- 

lic affairs.     He  was  indeed   politic,  in  the  betf 
of  being  sagac:  '.is  in  the  counse 

those  who  w  iking  to  manage  the  affairs  of  si 

and  society,  or  country.     But  his  politics   (if  he  ma; 
said  to  have  had  any)  w        _  isness,  in  its 

I  the  principles  <  governing  and  advancii  _ 
welfare  of  a  people,  for  which  he  was  greatly 
cerned. 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  239 

Some  have  said  to  the  writer  that  he  was  a  demo- 
crat. And  so  he  was  a  democrat,  in  always  advocating 
and  defending  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  for  the  people,  in  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
democracy  and  republicanism  both.  He  believed  in 
a  republic,  in  a  representative  form  of  popular  govern- 
ment in  which  the  sovereign  power  should  be  lodged 
in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  the  people  bearing  rule, 
rather  than  their  representatives.  AVe  can  remember 
when  there  were  those  to  proclaim  that  most  unright- 
eous principle,  "  Our  country  right  or  wrong,"  but  no 
such  fealty  to  partisan  warfare  was  ever  acknowledged 
by  Mr.  Balch.  He  would  scorn  to  have  uttered  a 
sentiment  like  that.  He  was  opposed  to  all  centralized 
power  taken  from  the  hands  of  the  many  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  hands  of  the  few,  for  them  to  abuse  and 
to  lord  it  over  whomsoever  they  might  choose  to.  It 
is  noticeable  that  everything  told  of  Mr.  Balch  points 
in  one  direction,  showing  that  he  was  the  people's  man, 
loved  and  honored  by  the  masses.  With  all  his  respect 
for  the  few,  the  distinguished  few,  he  thought  more  of 
the  many,  the  toiling  and  producing  multitudes, 
wmether  theirs  was  the  labor  of  the  hands  or  of  the 
head.  Did  any  one  in  listening  to  Mr.  Balch  ever  hear 
him  voice  a  principle  in  politics  or  religion  that  did 
not  do  honor  to  his  heart? 

Speaking  of  the  "  Dangers  of  Our  Republic,  in  an 
Oration  delivered  in  Chester,  Vt.,  July  4,  1857,"  he 
says : 

aOur  real  danger  is  in  the  haughty  spirit  of 
ambition  for  place  and  parade  and  preferment,  creat- 
ing rivalries  among  veriest  friends ;  producing  a  daring 


21:0  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

spirit  of  speculation  to  obtain  wealth  without  industry, 
honor  without  honesty,  fame  without  merit.  It  is  in 
the  blind  adhesion  to  party,  names  and  dictation,  to 
the  utter  disregard  of  the  principles  of  natural  right, 
equal  justice,  the  convictions  of  conscience  and  the 
true  interests  and  honor  of  mankind.  It  is  in  the 
willing  departure  from  the  great  truths  asserted  in  the 
declaration  of  American  independence,  upon  which 
our  forefathers  planted  the  standard  of  liberty,  and 
sought  to  achieve  the  greatest  good  for  their  country 
and  the  world.  It  is  in  the  substitution  of  a  pretended 
for  a  real  love  and  admiration  for  the  institutions  of 
liberty  and  right,  on  the  part  of  gambling  politi- 
cians, by  which  the  unsuspicious  are  deceived  and 
betrayed"  into  the  support  of  vicious  measures.  It 
is  in  the  rapid  and  constant  tendency  to  centraliza- 
tion, by  the  increase  of  political  dishonesty  and 
chicanery  by  which  office-seekers  and  their  helpers 
appeal  to  the  lowest  and  basest  passions  to  promote 
their  selfish  ends.  It  is  in  the  low  state  of  political 
sentiment  among  the  people  generally,  or  a  habit  of 
carelessness,  in  reference  to  the  questions  which  con- 
cern the  stability  and  development  of  our  democratic 
form  of  government.  It  is  in  this  that  is  our  great 
and  crying  danger;  a  gross  offense  against  the  memo- 
ries of  our  forefathers.  We  have  not  heeded  their  wise 
precepts,  nor  followed  their  good  examples.  We  have 
departed  from  their  simple,  honest,  earnest  mode  of 
life,  and  preferred  the  vanities  and  tollies  of  a  growing 
profligacy.  Foreign  fashions  and  flummeries  have  been 
imported,  and  exotic  customs,  and  almost  every  species 
of  extravagance  have  made  a  rapid  growth  in  our 
exuberant  love  of  apishness  and  aristocracy." 

In  preaching  a  Thanksgiving  sermon  in  the  city  of 
ISTew  York,  in  1814,  subject  "  Political  and  Social  Econ- 
omy," he  tells  us  that  "True  governments  never  seek 
to  enrich  and  aggrandize  a  few  ambitious  men  who  are 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  241 

too  indolent  to  be  useful  and  too  destitute  of  moral 
principle  to  care  for  anybody  but  self.      Christianity 

unfolds  the  true  system  of  government,  wisely  and  con- 
descendingly adapted  to  man's  estate,  and  admirably 
suited  to  reform,  redeem  and  exalt  humanity.  It  is 
purely  democratic  in  all  its  principles  (using  this  word 
in  its  legitimate,  not  in  its  party  sense),  giving  equal 
rights  and  privileges  to  all  who  embrace  it.  It  levels 
the  false  distinctions  of  earth,  and  gives  honor  and 
praise  to  excellence  wherever  found.  It  humbles  the 
proud  and  exalts  the  humble.  It  denounces  vice  revel- 
ling in  a  palace,  and  encourages  virtue  though  dwelling 
in  a  hut.  It  says  nothing  of  royal  blood,  noble  birth, 
vested  rights  and  tinselled  dignity.  It  makes  righteous- 
ness the  standard  of  character,  and  commands  truth 
and  virtue  as  the  sure  avenue  of  true  success,  honor  and 
greatness.  Such,"  he  tells  us,  "  are  my  political  princi- 
ples. My  father  taught  them  to  me,  and  maturer 
years  have  confirmed  me  in  their  truth  and  import- 
ance." 

You  find  him  saying,  "  What  do  our  politicians  but 
seek  for  party  promotions  in  utter  disregard  of  the 
principles  on  which  our  nation  was  founded — equal 
rights  and  common  justice.  Watch  the  doings  of  Con- 
gress and  Legislatures  and  even  courts  of  pretended  jus- 
tice, and  see  how  much  regard  is  paid  to  equality. 
Money  is  voted  by  thousands,  obtained  from  the 
taxes  of  the  people,  directly  or  indirectly  drawn  from 
labor,  the  only  wealth  of  any  nation,  and  given  for 
what?  Favoritism,  position  ;  not  for  services  rendered, 
such  as  all  actual  laborers  are  obliged  to  °-ive  before 
receiving  pay.     Xo :  it  is  to  sustain  the  dignity  of  the 


24:2  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

station.  From  presidents  downward  such  is  the  order 
of  the  day ;  and  such  may  be  well  if  there  is  no  God  in 
heaven  demanding  justice  and  fraternity  on  earth. 
One  may  well  doubt  if  such  a  Power  is  thought  of 
during  the  session,  though  His  presence  be  invoked  in 
cold  unlistening  formality  at  each  opening." 

Mr.  Balch,  in  writing  to  a  friend  who  was  afterward 
the  democratic  mayor  of  the  city  of  Xew  York,  says, 
"  Our  democrats  must  learn  what  democracy  means, 
and  make  practical  the  principles  involved  in  the  gen- 
ius of  our  government.  They  must  not  get  bewildered 
and  lost  in  human  plans  and  policies  for  personal  party 
gains,  or  proceed  in  the  wake  of  great  monopolies,  and 
financial  splendors,  but  remember  that  the  people 
are  the  basis  of  power,  and  that  labor  is  the  wealth  of 
the  nation.  Enlightened  as  our  people  are  in  their  nat- 
ural, political  and  social  rights,  they  will  not  submit 
long,  as  in  Ireland,  to  be  overridden  and  oppressed  b}r 
those  who  live  in  and  plunder  on  their  millions,  while 
digging  in  mines,  toiling  in  shops  and  mills,  sweating 
in  the  fields,  or  working  anywhere  at  an  average  of 
wages  that  failed  to  keep  soul  and  body  together. 
Communism  will  grow  out  of  such  conditions,  and  we 
can  not  constrain  the  people  as  in  Europe.  Our  sol- 
diers are  the  people,  and  where  is  our  safety  in  such  a 
crisis  ?  The  party  that  shall  live  must  correct,  reform 
and  avert  this  danger."  He  then  adds,  "  You  see  that 
I  am  at  my  old  hobby,  but  I  will  not  bother  you  to 
help  tame  the  giddy  beast."  This  is  what  he  calls  the 
democratic  party,  "  the  giddy  beast."  He  writes  from 
Iowa,  "The  country  all  this  way  looks  splendid.  The 
signs  indicate  abundance.     The  people  are  hopeful,  but 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH .  243 

party  newspapers  are  glum,  doubting  more  than  hop- 
ing. I  do  not  read  them  enough  to  have  a  mind  on 
what  they  say.  I  know  what  I  should  like  to  see  in 
the  nation — less  party,  and  more  principle.  When 
shall  it  I)*-  i  " 

The  chief  politics  of  Brother  Balch  was  in  being 
opposed  to  aristocracy,  and  he  was  ever  seeking  to  de- 
feat the  plans  of  those  who  oppressed  God's  humbler 
children  to  advance  their  own  selfish  interests.  There 
are  a  thousand  ways  in  which  we  may  belie  our  princi- 
ples of  religious  equality,  and  he  would  let  no  differ- 
ences of  outward  distinction  hide  from  him  the  pure 
image  of  God  stamped  upon  every  soul  of  the  race, 
but  would  honor  all  men  as  His  immortal  offspring. 
And  seeing  in  the  poorest  and  most  despised  his  own 
brethren  and  kindred,  he  was  ready  to  aid  the  feeble, 
resisting  all  wronging  of  them;  remembering  that  in- 
asmuch as  he  did  good  to  the  least  of  his  brethren,  he 
could  be  counted  as  doing  it  to  Him  who  was  the  friend 
and  brother  of  all  men.  Rooted  and  grounded  in  the 
truth  that  man  as  man,  man  universal,  man  everywhere 
was  his  brother,  to  be  counted  and  honored  as  a  broth- 
er, in  all  laws,  and  all  governments,  he  essayed  to  re- 
spect him  as  such  in  all  those  relations  and  capacities 
in  which  he  was  called  to  act  toward  him.  reo-ardin^ 
the  rights  which  others  had  to  whatsoever  aid  his 
hand  could  afford,  as  sacred  and  inalienable. 

In  this  was  seen  one  of  the  prime  excellencies  of 
Brother  Balch,  and  never  did  he  appear  to  better 
advantage  than  when  pleading  for  rules  and  regula- 
tions which  were  based  in  good,  and  to  be  used  for  the 
people's  sake,    and  in  educating  and  lifting  up  the  mass 


2ttl  THE    LIFE    AJsTD    LABORS    OF 

of  mind.  It  does  not  appear  to  whom  he  is  writing, 
nor  does  it  matter,  so  long  as  the  sentiment  is' what  it 
is,  that  "Xone  are  to  be  loved  and  respected  more 
truly  than  the  humble,  patient  laborers,  who,  under  God, 
produce  what  they  possess,  to  work  their  own  way 
through  life,  and  to  be  the  architects  of  their  own 
fortunes.  l$o  matter  whether  they  are  high  or  low, 
rich  or  poor  in  pelf,  conspicuous  or  humble  in  position  ; 
they  are  surely  the  upper  circles  in  the  order  of  nature, 
whatever  the  factitious  distinctions  of  society,  fashion- 
able or  unfashionable,  may  decree.  There  may  be 
those  to  clutch  and  call  their  own,  what  rightfully  is 
not  theirs,  and  wrench  the  hard  earnings  of  sacrifice 
and  self  denial;  and  so  manage  and  monopolize  these  to 
themselves,  while  others  are  prevented,  though  vastly 
more  wortlry,  from  shaping  the  richer  bounties  of  the 
beneficient  Father.  The  history  of  the  world,  sacred 
and  profane,  is  full  of  facts,  illustrations  and  command- 
ments, teaching  such  things.  Ruins  scattered  all  over 
the  old  world,  demonstrate  the  need  of  right  views  and 
right  conduct  by  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  strong  and 
the  weak,  the  wise  and  the  simple,  in  church  and  State, 
and  in  social  and  domestic  life.  He  is  a  fortnnate  man 
who  heeds  not  the  un  brotherly  distinctions  of  the  world, 
who  envies  not  the  rich,  nor  neglects  the  poor;  who 
covets  not  promotion  without  merit,  nor  approves  of 
indolence,  worthlessness  and  wickedness  anywhere,  but 
in  whose  pure  and  liberal  soul  dwells  the  love  of  God 
and  man  to  guide  in  the  regulation  of  conduct,  and  the 
formation  of  character.  He  alone  is  the  happy  man 
who  lives  a  good  and  useful  life,  in  humility,  peace  and 
good  will  to  all  men.     Is  there  not  work  enough  to  be 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  245 

done  in  such  a  cause  ?  Most  is  to  be  done  among  the 
rich,  the  great,  the  noble — as  they  are  called,  and  too 
often  think  themselves  more  highly  than  they  ought  to 
think — the  wrongers  and  oppressors  of  their  fellow- 
men." 

He  asks  in  one  of  his  letters  to  an  unknown  person, 
"  By  what  means  do  some  become  so  immensely  rich 
and  powerful  in  so  short  a  time,  and  lifted  up  above 
their  fellows?  Are  they  wiser  and  better,  or  more 
industrious  and  economical  than  others?  Or  are  they 
wickeder,  more  cunning,  crafty,  unscrupulous  and  pre- 
tentious, than  plain,  honest  toilers,  who  are  willing  to 
live  among  men,  and  let  others  live  with  them  on  terms 
of  equality  and  fraternity.  Thank  God,  such  can  eat 
with  no  more  relish,  sleep  no  more  soundly,  nor  enjoy 
the  world  to  any  better  advantage."  He  then  adds, 
after  very  much  more  of  the  same  general  character: 

"I  did  not  start  to  write  so  serious  a  letter,  but  these 
thoughts  flowed  into  my  mind,  and  now  it  is  written,  I 
have  concluded  that  I  will  not  throw  it  away,  but  let 
you  have  it  as  it  is.  It  wrill  enable  you  to  knowr  some 
of  the  things  I  am  thinking  about.  What  I  have  seen 
in  my  travels,  and  all  the  way  as  I  have  gone  along,  is 
a  too  strong  confirmation  of  the  evils  complained  of  by 
so  many.  Persons  who  twenty  years  ago  were  so  hon- 
orably employed,  have  swollen  into  millionaires,  twen- 
ty to  forty  million  strong,  and  live  in  half-million 
palaces  that  outpass  in  splendor,  most  of  those  of  the 
princes  of  Europe." 

He  brings  this  all  home  very  closely  to  us,  by  speak- 
ing of  the  great  city  of  New  York,  where  he  tells  us 
he  spent  seventeen  years  of  his  manhood  life,  and  had 
watched  its  changes  and  growth  of  pride  and  luxury 


246  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

since  1825.  We  have  his  estimate  of  town  and  country 
life.  He  says:  "  I  am  no  admirer  of  large  and  crowded 
cities.  I  believe  they  exist  and  nourish  in  derogation 
of  a  sound  philosophy,  and  the  will  of  God.  The  whole 
manner  of  city  life  is  becoming  little  else  than  a  system 
of  false  pretenses  from  highest  to  lowest,  with  its 
gambling  houses,  billiard  saloons,  grog-shops  and  broth- 
els, which  drum  for  customers  to  the  lowest  pits  of  vice, 
poverty  and  degradation,  which  fester  in  the  damp  cel- 
lars, dark  lanes,  rear  buildings  and  horrid  purlieus  of 
all  large  cities.  Where  are  decencies  and  proprieties  of 
life  so  outraged  as  in  our  cities  and  large  towns? 
Where  are  mobs,  murders,  riots,  thefts,  drunkenness, 
harlotry  and  lawless  living,  most  common  ?  Where  are 
reforms  most  difficult,  crimes  most  successful,  vice 
most  unblushing,  and  virtue  least  courted?  The 
adao-e  is,  '  God  made  the  countrv,  but  men  made  the 
town.'  It  may  be  said  productive  labor  dwells  in  the 
country,  while  traffic  is  confined  to  the  towns ;  though 
such  remark  is  not  literally  true,  for  there  is  much  pro- 
ductive labor  in  the  great  city,  and  not  a  little  traffic 
in  the  country.  It  is  a  plain  truth  that  the  source  of 
all  true  increase  is  in  labor. 

Trade  really  produces  nothing  but  an  exchange  of 
commodities.  He  who  buys  property  for  a  particular 
sum,  and  sells  for  ten  times  as  much,  may  be  called 
lucky,  but  he  adds  nothing  to  the  amount  of  wealth- 
But  he  who  buys  a  piece  of  land  and  makes  it  produce 
ten  times  as  much  by  his  own  labor,  has  so  enriched  the 
world  by  nine.  He  who  digs  from  the  mine  a  piece  of  iron, 
takes  from  the  forest  a  tree,  and  makes  therefrom  an 
article  of  use,  comfort,  or  even  beaut v,  has  added  in 


KEV.    WILLIAM    si  EVENS    BALCH.  247 

the  same  way  to  the  sum  of  human  enjoyment.  But 
he  who  only  handles  the  earnings  of  others,  and  that 
often  only  in  imagination,  may  enrich  himself  some- 
times very  rapidly,  but  he  impoverishes  others  to  do 
it.     He  puts  nothing  in  the  common  fund. 

Xew  York  has  lived  and  thrived  on  commerce. 
The  few  have  grown  immensely  rich,  the  many  terri- 
bly poor.  The  proportion  holds  good,  for  the  law  of 
production  and  increase  is  inflexible.  Those  who  keep 
in  small  dark  rooms  in  Wall  street,  and  traffic  in  trade, 
make  fortunes  most  rapidly.  They  can  show  no  visi- 
ble, tangible  substance,  but  grow  rich  (and  become 
poor)  on  fancies.  TThat  do  they  to  enhance  the  good 
of  mankind?  Thus,  from  the  humblest  producer  in  the 
rudest  way,  to  the  most  refined  and  arch  speculator, 
even  on  the  prospective  results  of  other's  labor,  there  is 
a  gradation  regulated  by  a  law  just  as  marked  and 
sure  as  can  be  found  in  any  other  department  of  social 
life.  It  is  a  happy  consideration  that  here,  as  every- 
where, God  bears  rule,  for  although  merit  may  seem 
sometimes  to  be  unrewarded,  while  fraud  triumphs,  yet 
the  judgment  comes  at  last.  The  law  of  compensa- 
tion is  not  suspended.  Each  shall  find  his  due.  "  The 
wrath  of  man  shall  praise  Him. 

"A  terrible  illustration  of  these  simple  but  sadly 
neglected  truths  is  in  the  process  of  completion  in  New 
York  to-day.  The  blow  has  fallen  first  and  heaviest 
on  those  who  trafficked  off  their  integrity,  selling  the 
small  commodities  they  had  of  manly  principles  to 
secure  the  favor  of  barterers  south.  They  now  taste 
the  bitter  results  of  their  mistaken  deeds.  Is  not  God 
just  I    And  such  as  participated  with  them  have  not 


248  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

escaped.  Such,  too,  is  the  law  of  trade.  Credit  based 
on  paper,  and  the  exhibit  of  names  is  not  a  sure  sup- 
port in  time  of  trial.  It  is  going  to  heaven  by  proxy. 
Principal  and  proxy  both  rejected. 

"  In  one  sense  it  is  sad  to  look  on  the  dissolutions  of 
men's  fortunes — hopes  ail  destroyed,  prospects  all  dark, 
courage  clean  gone.  It  is  like  a  sweeping  scourge. 
But  the  "  curse  causeless  does  not  come."  It  is  the 
remedy  for  evils  grown  chronic,  and  he  must  be  a 
poor  scholar  who  will  not  profit  thereby.  I  wander 
the  streets  as  I  do  through  the  chambers  of  a  hospital. 
All  are  sick — some  growing  worse,  a  few  improving, 
but  all  anxious  for  the  crisis.  Those  recovered  may  be 
as  imprudent  as  ever,  though  now  they  promise  better 
fashions.  The  evil  is  malarious  and  contagious,  vac- 
cination is  not  a  sure  remedy.  A  full  return  to  a 
legitimate  business,  honestly  and  honorably  pursued, 
not  the  sacrifice  of  every  thing  to  "  make  haste  to  be 
rich,"  but  a  steady,  gradual  increase  to  acquire  a 
competence  for  a  comfortable  life  and  a  fair  generos- 
ity— not  a  princely  palace  and  all  extravagant  luxur- 
ies— this  will,  in  due  time,  remove  the  evil,  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  personal  and  general  prosperity.  Let 
the  wise  take  heed  and  triumph." 

After  so  much  we  can  scarcely  fail  to  understand 
how  it  was  in  perfect  accord  with  the  character  of  Mr. 
Balch,  having  imbibed  the  principles  of  personal  lib- 
erty, social  equality  and  mutual  responsibility,  so  far 
as  both  religious  and  political  rights  were  concerned, 
to  identify  himself  in  the  affairs  of  Khode  Island  with 
what  was  known  as  the  "  People's  Movement."  Bound 
up  with  the  affections  of  the  masses,  how  could  he  be 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  249 

otherwise  than  interested  in  sympathizing  with  them 
in  their  trials  and  deprivations.  There  could  scarcely 
be  a  more  unrighteous  thing  than  the  Charter,  or  Grant 
of  King  Charles  II.,  requiring  a  real  estate  qualifi 
cation  to  become  a  citizen  and  voter.  It  is  put  forth 
by  Mr.  Balch  in  "  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Cause,  and 
the  Methods  Adopted  to  Obtain  a  Republican  Constitu- 
tion for  the  State  of  Bhode  Island,"  that  t;  A  man 
might  be  worth  a  million  dollars  of  personal  property, 
and  be  one  of  the  best,  wisest,  and  most  patriotic  of 
inhabitants,  but  he  was  not  a  free  man  any  more  for 
it.  He  tells  us  that  ifc  the  price  of  freedom  at  the  time 
to  which  reference  points  was  8134  of  landed  estate. 
With  that  a  man,  and  his  eldest  son  could  vote, 
but  without  such  qualifications  no  man  could  vote,  hold, 
office,  sit  on  a  jury,  be  tried  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  or 
collect  a  debt  without  a  landholder  to  back  his  writ, 
and  yet  was  compelled  to  pay  taxes  equal  to  others, 
and  do  military  duty  without  his  consent.  The  ratio 
of  representation  was  wholly  arbitrary,  and  it  wrought 
the  disfranchisement  of  three-fifths  of  the  American 
citizens  residing  in  the  State.  A  man  could  be  a  citi- 
zen of  the  nation,  but  not  of  Rhode  Island,  without 
buying  the  right.  Xone  were  born  free  but  the  first 
son.  All  others  were  aliens  —  political  nobodies." 
Such  were  some  of  the  anti-republican  principles  and 
disabilities  which  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  were 
laboring  under  at  the  time  their  troubles  were  brought 
on,  and  yet  entitled  to  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, according  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  as  much  guaranteed  to  them  as  to  any 
other  State  in  the  Union.     He  asksthe  question,  "Why 


250  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

should  the  provisions  of  a  charter,  granted  by  a  Brit- 
ish King,  which  of  course  ceased  to  exist  from  the 
time  the  Constitution  went  into  operation,  defeat  all 
the  rights  of  the  people  I  He  wished  it  to  be  remem- 
bered that  up  to  ISil  Rhode  Island  had  no  sort  of 
constitution  to  alter,  amend  or  abolish.  The  supreme 
power,  till  the  colonies  broke  away  from  Great  Brit- 
ain, was  in  the  King.  And  the  abstract  question  when 
stripped  of  all  mystification  and  misinterpretation  he 
tells  them  "  is  simply  whether  the  sovereignty  itself, 
which  is  no  longer  with  the  king  of  England,  resides 
in  the  Legislature,  or  does  it  go  to  the  people  to  be 
exercised  through  its  delegates  \  " 

Brother  Balch  was  of  the  revolutionists'  opinion,  and 
stood  nearly  alone  of  all  the  ministers  of  Providence, 
combating  any  opposite  idea.  "  The  principles  con- 
tended for  and  sought  to  be  established  by  the  citizens 
of  that  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  rule,  and  de- 
termine what  the  government  under  which  they  lived 
should  be,  was  the  fundamental  doctrine,"  he  tells  us, 
upon  which  the  national  existence  was  based.  Every- 
body but  anarchists  and  aristocrats  admitted  this  fact. 
Deny  it,  and  we  had  nothing  left  to  characterize  us 
from  the  governments  of  Europe,  nothing  worth  the 
blood  and  treasure  spent  to  liberate  our  country  from 
foreign  dominion."  Rhode  Island  was  under  a  landed 
aristocracy,  and  how  to  obtain  the  advantage  of 
having  their  liberties  guaranteed  to  them,  became  the 
great  question  seeking  a  solution. 

Their  cause,  therefore,  was  legitimate,  and  peace- 
ful, as  well.  Brother  Balch  at  least  was  a  peace  man 
from  principle,  opposed  to  war  under  all  circumstances. 


REV.  WULLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  251 

He  was  a  man  of  peace,  as  he  was  a  man  of  God,  and 
with  the  war  spirit  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  rebuke 
it.  He  taught  that  war  was  not  only  a  calamity,  but 
a  crime  ;  and  the  whole  tendency  of  his  ministry  was 
to  bring  it  into  merited  and  lasting  disgrace.  He  be- 
lieved in  the  doctrine  of  O'Connel,  the  great  Irish  bar- 
rister and  reformer,  that  "  Xo  change  whatever  was 
worth  a  single  drop  of  blood."  He  was  opposed  to 
war,  to  capital  punishment,  and  every  engine  of  cruelty 
and  oppression,  as  being  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  as  well  as  to  the  instructions  of  Christ  and  His 
apostles,  who  taught  that  we  were  to  bless  those  that 
curse  us,  and  do  good  to  those  that  hate  us,  that  we 
might  be  the  children  of  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven, 
not  being  "  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcoming  evil  with 
good."  He  had  no  favor  for  any  of  these  wrongs  of 
society,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  the}r  ought  not  to 
be  tolerated  in  a  civilized  communitv.  He  ever  taught 
that  patience  would  better  accomplish  the  cure  of  any 
evil,  than  the  commission  of  a  wrong.  A  strong  gov- 
ernment with  him  was  not  an  unjust  and  tyrannical 
government,  but  one  fostering  liberty  and  conscience, 
rather  than  soul- tyranny.  It  never  should  exist  but 
with  a  high  degree  of  freedom.  He  looked  forward  to 
a  day  when  love  should  emerge  from  passion  and  hate, 
and  kindness  be  recognized  as  the  sovereign  of  power ; 
when  the  graceful  forms  of  humanity  should  have  ar- 
rested victory  from  the  dominions  of  ignorance  and 
barbarism,  when  affection  should  occupy  the  throne  of 
fear,  the  arts  of  peace  become  the  business  of  life,  and 
fraternity  the  watchword  of  joyous  nations."  We  can 
then  understand  how  it  should  be  told  us  that  "  he  had 


252  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

a  great  abhorrence  of  lawsuits  tending  to  keep  men  at 
variance  with  each  other,  and  that  he  was  instrumental 
in  settling  several  suits  of  long  standing  while  preach- 
ing to  his  parish  in  Ludlow,  Vt." 

No  one  could  ever  suppose  that  there  was  anything 
in  the  life  of  Mr.  Balch  to  encourage  litigation,  or  a 
military  spirit,  and  when  the  authorities  of  Rhode 
Island  grew  alarmed  at  the  mad  spirit  that  was  rife  in 
their  midst,  he  was  pleaded  with,  and  had  to  be  called 
in  to  quell  the  rashness  and  violence  which  their  own 
misconduct  had  evoked.  The  people  were  gathered 
largely  in  a  hall  in  Providence  under  the  greatest  ex- 
citement, and  all  parties  came  to  him  to  urge  him  to  go 
and  see  he  could  not  quiet  the  agitation.  To  this  he 
consented  after  much  importuning,  telling  them  that 
they  had  to  submit  to  be  ruled  by  a  minority,  as  they 
could  not  hope  to  resist  the  whole  military  force  of  the 
nation  in  its  guarantee  to  assist  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
people's  constitution.  In  hearing  that  some  were  pro- 
posing physical  resistance,  he  assured  them  that  he 
"  would  rather  such  weapons  were  sunk  to  the  bottom 
of  the  Narragansett  than  to  be  used  in  such  a  cause." 
His  advice  was,  "  Continue  to  pursue  a  peaceful,  per- 
suasive course  as  they  had  done  from  the  beginning, 
pleading  their  natural  and  inalienable  rights,  and  they 
would  triumph  at  last.  The  fairer  minds  would  seethe 
justice  and  righteousness  of  their  cause,  and  history 
would  finally  do  them  honor." 

There  was  no  other  course  for  them  to  pursue,  with 
the  opposition  controlling  all  the  machinery  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  having  all  the  prestige  of  authority  and 
power.     And  more  than  all,  Mr.  Balch  was  a  moralist, 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALOB  2.V5 

and  not  a  politician,  and  he  could  not  forget  his  voca- 
tion. It  may  be  said  of  him  that  he  has  always  had 
certain  great  principles  of  right  to  which  he  has  ad  15 e red 
independently  of  party  considerations,  and  he  has  hern 
too  firm  in  his  judgment  of  men  and  measures,  and 
what  was  right,  to  conciliate  politicians. 

Mr.  Balch,  in  concluding  an  oration  given  in  Paw- 
tucket,  R.  I.,  July  4,  1S39,  the  subject  of  it,  "  Individual 
Freedom  the  Foundation  of  a  Democratic  Government,'' 
utters  such  sentiments  as  these : 

"  The  true  value  of  our  republican  institutions 
will  be  fully  known;  their  rich  blessings  will  com- 
pletely unfold  themselves  and  be  duly  appreciated 
as  soon  as  men  become  lovers  of  God,  truth  and 
principle,  more  than  lovers  of  pleasure,  self  and 
party.  When  all  our  citizens  will  return  to  the  patriot- 
ism of  our  fathers,  and  be  willing  to  let  the  majority 
rule  without. a  clamorous  denunciation  of  every  man, 
and  every  measure  which  does  not  tally  precisely  with 
their  own  infallible  right  to  dictate  ;  when  the  minority 
will  labor  to  correct  abuses,  not  by  denunciation,  in- 
trigue, or  stratagem,  but  by  an  open  exhibition  of  cor- 
rect principles  and  superior  wisdom  and  virtue:  when 
in  short,  goodness  and  truth  shall  receive  the  just  meed 
of  honor,  and  the  love  of  self,  the  love  of  sect,  the  love 
of  party,  be  merged  in  the  love  of  country,  and  the  great- 
est good  of  all,  then  will  the  banner  of  liberty  wave  its 
rich  folds  over  all  the  nations,  giving  peace  and  freedom 
to  all.  Xo  foul  stain  of  party  slander,  or  factional  dis- 
cord, will  then  dim  the  fair  fame  of  the  nation  of  the 
free.  Violence  will  no  more  be  heard  in  the  land,  nor 
wasting  and  destruction  be  in  our  borders.  The  East. 
the  West,  theXorth.the  South  shall  be  enfolded  in  one 
warm  embrace.  Men  of  virtue  and  intelligence,  of 
quality  and  decision,  the  chosen  of  the  free,  shall  sit 
in  state,  and  rule  in  righteousness,  enjoying  the  respect 
17 


251  THE     LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

of  each  and  of  all.  Our  country  will  rise  to  the  acme 
of  its  true  glory,  and  sit  enthroned  in  the  respect  and 
praises  of  the  whole  earth." 

I  will,  of  course,  be  accredited  with  having  rambled 
widely  from  my  subject,  which  began  with  Mr.  Balch's 
first  visit  to  Europe  in  1848.  But  in  1852  he  was 
asked  by  two  men,  not  of  his  church,  with  whom  a 
third  afterward  joined,  to  go  abroad  if  he  wished, 
with  his  pulpit  supplied  at  home,  and  full  permission 
and  means  to  journey  as  far,  and  remain  as  long  as  he 
pleased.  He  was  wise  enough  to  accept  the  generous 
offer,  and  traveled  extensively  in  Europe,  extending 
his  journey  to  Palestine,  across  the  desert  and  through 
Egypt  to  JSTubia.  The  person  accompanying  him  in 
his  first  tour  to  the  old  country,  tells  us  that  "  In  the 
month  of  June  he  set  sail  on  the  steamer  Arctic,  with 
several  young  men  under  his  charge,  and  entrusted  to 
his  care,  as  guide,  tutor  and  protector'.' 

It  was  in  setting  out  upon  his  former  journey  to  the 
Old  World  that  his  reflections  were  made  known  to  us 
as  being  of  the  following  character : 

"  My  favored  time  has  come  at  last ;  the  preparation 
has  been  made,  and  my  ship,  the  'Siddons'.  is  floating 
on  the  bay,  waiting  for  wind  and  tide  to  carry  her  out 
to  sea.  The  last  words  have  been  spoken  ;  the  last  look, 
the  last  signal  given.  I  am  leaving  wife,  children, 
friends,  church,  country,  duty  ;  no,  1  will  not  confess 
that,  for  it  is  the  better  to  discharge  duty  that  I  have 
essayed  to  make  real  the  dream  of  my  life ;  to  see  and 
touch  the  places  and  things  made  sacred  by  the  tran- 
sactions recorded  in  the  Holy  Book.  I  am  wanting  to 
see  and  learn  all  I  can,  to  gratify  my  long-desired  wish, 
and  to  refresh  my  memory  in  these  after  years  of  the 
things  which  I  read  in  my  childhood  life." 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  255 

So  now,  in  his  "  Xotes  of  a  Pilgrimage  through 
Europe,  to  Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land,"  he  is  not  with- 
out his  reflections.  His  letter  on  the  Arctic  at  sea, 
opens  with  the  words: 

ikIt  is  over,  home  is  behind  me  again,  and  the  coun- 
try of  my  hope  and  desire  before  me.  I  am  both  sad 
and  happy  at  parting,  but  expect  to  return  better  quali- 
fied for  my  arduous  professional  duties.  I  shall  no 
doubt  see  and  experience  much,  and  it  will  be  an  event- 
ful year,  and  may  God  spare  my  life  and  bless  me  in 
giving  me  a  joyful  return.  But  before  all  that  shall  be, 
what  deeply  interesting  scenes  are  to  pass  before  my 
eyes,  beautiful,  romantic,  grand,  beyond  any  pen  to 
describe/' 

As  he  continues  to  write  after  arriving  in  the  Old 
World,  he  is  left  to  wonder  that  any  one  '-should 
depreciate  the  blessings  of  republican  liberty,  and  wish 
to  live  under  a  monarch}7,  that  they  might  have  an  es- 
tablished aristocracy,  a  court,  a  born  nobility,  and  ranks 
and  grades  to  keep  down  the  rabble." 

He  leaves  the  reader  to  sketch  in  his  own  mind  the 
scenes  in  Ireland  which  he  had  passed  over  four  years 
before,  and  says  he  "  looks  for  nothing  of  special  inter- 
est in  that  direction."  Of  Scotland  the  limits  of  this 
book  do  not  permit  me  to  more  than  mention  it  briefly. 
He  says : 

"  It  has  its  peculiarities,  its  attractions,  its  faults. 
In  scenery  it  is  beautiful,  romantic,  in  a  certain  degree 
grand.  Its  heathery  hills,  tumbled  together  carelessly 
and  in  great  disorder,  skirted  about  their  bases  with 
sweet  sylvan  lakes,  or  gorged  by  deep  glens  and  almost 
insuperable  passes,  afford  a  novelty  and  va  riety  at 
once  pleasant  and  astonishing.  But  it  has  more  of 
beauty  than  of  grandeur,  more  to  please  than  to  as- 


256  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

tonish.     And  one  feels  more  of  quiet  and  contentment 
than  when  roving  among  the  Alps. 

"The  fault  of  Scotland  is  its  bigotry.  In  religion,  in 
politics,  in  social  life,  there  is  a  looking  to  the  past  for 
a  standard,  while  materially  and  physically  everything 
is  steaming  forward.  In  enterprise  it  does  not  lack  at 
all  since  the  days  of  Watt  and  Bell.  But  in  loyalty  to 
kings  and  creeds  it  is  wofully  behind.  Bereft  of  their 
own  nationality,  reduced  to  being  the  province  of  a 
haughty  rival,  Scotchmen  have  forgotten  the  past,  and 
learned"  to  love  the  government  that  has  conquered 
them.  This  may  be  well,  for  thereby  the  feuds  and 
fights  which  hinder  the  progress  of  the  world  are  re- 
moved; the  expense  of  one  royal  family  saved,  and  a 
chance  given  for  the  pursuit  of  the  arts,  peace  and  social 
prosperity.  I  can  not  object  to  that,  but  rather  honor 
those  who  yield  a  king  and  court.  But  when  they 
look  at  these  things  and  say,  '  no  further,'  they  mis- 
take, for  the  wrongs,  the  misrule,  the  oppressions  of 
an  established  aristocracy,  a  native,  a  foreign,  a  born 
nobility,  can  not  abide  forever.  The  day  of  redemption 
draweth  nigh,  when  the  old  shall  pass  away  and  the 
new  be  come  in ;  when  stars  and  epaulets,  crowns  and 
garters,  shall  no  longer  entitle  a  man  without  merit  to 
10,000  acres  of  God's  earth,  while  the  honest,  toiling 
laborer  plods  a  whole  life-time  for  a  poor  and  precari- 
ous livelihood.  In  this  respect  I  had  rather  hear  the 
shout,  "  God  bless  the  people,"  than  hear  them  sing, 
'  God  save  the  Queen.'  The  learned,  the  free  in 
thought,  the  active  in  enterprise,  are  generally  on  the 
side  of  freedom,  and  hence  there  is  hope.  The  large 
soul  brooks  no  restraint.  It  wall  be  free.  I  wonder 
at  Scotland  lying  back  so  far  from  the  reforms  of  the 
day.  It  may  not  in  reality,  but  it  does  in  pretense. 
The  theology  of  John  Knox,  with  all  its  iron  incrusta- 
tions, its  chains  and  back  straps,  is  still  abiding,  though 
few  in  fact  do  really  wear  its  fetters.  Still  there  is 
this  fault;  to  adjure  that  faith  is  to  enlist  hostility  and 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  257 

pass  into  the  ranks  of  infidelity.     So  truly  is  this  the 

case  many  suppose  that  to  doubt,  where  they  can  not 
understand,  is  to  be  actually  inlidel.  Hereby  great 
injury  is  done  to  the  truth,  and  thousands  are  kept 
back  from  the  blessed  light,  hope  and  bliss  of  Christ- 
ian it  v.  because  tbev  can  not  see  it  as  Calvin  and  Knox 
did." 

Mr.  Balch  makes  his  way  hastily  along,  mentioning 
places  of  note,  arriving  and  departing  from  London  and 
Amsterdam,  across  the  channel,  landing  at  Dover,  and 
thence  to  Ostend,  and  a  ride  to  Antwerp,  and  afterward 
to  Brussels  and  to  Rotterdam.  He  thinks  it  hardly  to  be 
expected  that  he  should  be  detained  to  mention  numer- 
ous places  by  the  way.  and  even  Germany  and  Switzer- 
land are  cast  in  the  shade  by  the  Holy  Land,  which  is 
now  the  chief  object  of  interest.  He  more  than  men- 
tions some  of  the  places  through  which  he  is  passing, 
such  as  Milan,  Leipsic,  Hamburg,  Berlin,  Dresden, 
Vienna,  Trieste,  Venice,  etc.,  and  stops  to  make  reflec- 
tions upon  the  griefs  and  burdens  of  the  people.  "  I  con- 
fess my  confidence  in  men  is  almost  daily  weakened," 
he  says.  "  I  am  sorry  it  is  so.  But  what  can  we  do  with 
the  examples  piled  up  before  us?  Can  we  turn  from 
them?  They  meet  us  on  every  side.  The  past  is  full 
of  them,  and  the  present  has  its  quota.  I  have  wished 
a  thousand  times  that  I  could  shut  my  eyes  to  them, 
and  be  joyful  and  happy  as  others;  that  I  could  see  no 
errors,  no  cause  of  complaint,  but  all  bright,  and  fair 
and  hopeful  in  the  present  and  future  of  my  race,  it 
would  be  such  a  relief,  so  pleasant,  so  perfectly  delightful. 
I  have  tried  to  look  on  the  fair,  and  bright  and  beau- 
tiful. I  have  traversed  fine  cities,  gazed  on  the  grand 
in  architecture,  admired  the  beautiful  in  art,  and  con- 


258  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

suited  the  wisdom  of  sages.  What  does  it  all  avail  so 
long  as  the  myriads  of  God's  children  live  in  hovels, 
half  starved  in  the  rags  of  misery,  and  ignorant  of  the 
truth  that  maketh  free  indeed  ? 

"Deem  not  that  I  am  all  sad  or  discouraged.  I  am 
not,  but  hopeful  as  ever.  Cheered  by  the  light  of  that 
blessed  faith  which  sees  in  God  a  universal  Father,  in 
humanity  a  common  brotherhood,  in  heaven  a  final 
home  of  freedom,  love  and  bliss,  I  look  upon  this 
deathly  stillness,  upon  these  rustling  commotions,  and 
secret  sighs,  as  one  gazes  from  the  mountain  top  upon 
the  hills  and  valleys  below  him.  Providence  employs 
means  which  often  seem  strange  to  us  —  sometimes 
totaly  inadequate." 

He  ever  thought  thus,  and  still  would  grow  tired 
of  looking  upon  all  gorgeous  scenes,  and  thinking  how 
it  was  with  the  people,  what  were  their  conditions  and 
prospects,  and  how  they  fared  in  body  and  soul. 

•*  *  *  *  k  •*  •* 

In  crossing  the  Adriatic  on  the  steamer  Germania, 
bound  for  the  Orient,  they  first  touched  Corfu,  passing 
along  the  coast  of  Arcadia,  and  were  next  in  Athens, 
the  ancient  capital  of  art,  of  eloquence  and  oratory. 
Hurrying  on  they  leave  Athens  after  the  shortest  stay, 
making  for  Smyrna  and  Constantinople,  and  soon  are 
at  Beirut,  in  Syria. 

"  At  length  my  feet,"  he  says,  "  have  trod  the  soil 
of  Terre  Sante,  and  wild  and  confused  thoughts  run 
through  my  brain.  Another  dream  of  my  life  has 
become  reality.  I  could  not  sleep  last  night.  I  rose 
at  one,  and  again  at  four,  and  watched  for  the  day,  till 
soft  glimmerings  of  the  earliest  dawn  stole   through 


REV.  WILLIAM    8TEVEN8    BALCH.  259 

the  valleys,  which  indent  the  summit  of  the  loftiest 
range  which  seemed  to  rise  directly  from  the  sea.  I 
hoped  to  see  the  sun  climb  up  its  pathway  in  oriental 
skies,  resplendent  in  all  its  glory.  But  as  the  stars 
grew  pale,  dark  clouds  stretched  a  thick  veil  along  the 
horizon  and  spoiled  the  grandeur  of  the  scene. 

"Another  day  and  I  have  sat  under  the  shadows  of 
the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  and,  starting  some  minutes  in 
advance  of  the  rest,  I  have  ascended  the  last  rise  of 
Lebanon  alone,  and  the  view  is  magnificent,  sufficient 
to  repay  my  toil.  Later,  and  I  have  been  at  Nazareth, 
to  the  top  of  Tabor,  and  to  Tiberias,  bathed  in  the  sea, 
eaten  fish  from  its  pure  waters,  walked  where  Jesus 
walked,  and  taught  and  blessed  its  inhabitants.  Oh, 
could  I  feel  as  He  felt,  live  pure  as  he  lived,  and  in  all 
things  say  '  Thy  will  be  done ! '  If  there  is  any  spot  in 
nature  beautiful — grandly,  harmoniously  beautiful — it  is 
from  Xazareth  by  Tabor,  along  the  sea  of  Galilee. 
What  more  delightful  spot  as  fit  for  the  transfiguration, 
than  the  top  of  this  mountain  ?  Nazareth  is  one  of 
the  largest  ruins  of  Syria,  next  to  Beirut  and  Jerusalem. 
The  land  is  all  very  well.  It  is  a  goodly  land  as  of 
yore.  But  the  people— there  lies  the  fault.  I  looked 
on  the  barrenness  of  soil.  In  this  I  am  disappointed. 
There  is  vastly  more  cultivation  than  I  expected  ;  but 
the  people  are  more  ignorant  and  debased  ;  more  neg- 
lectful of  all  the  arts  and  improvements,  and  comforts 
of  civilized  life  than  I  thought  it  possible  for  any  cor- 
ner of  the  earth  to  be.  Poor  deceived  humanity,  the 
Lord  have  mercy  upon  it ! 

"But  I  must  sleep  and  rouse  myself  early  for  tomor- 
row, for  my  i>yq*  are  to  behold  Mount  Zion  and  'the  joy 


260  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

of  the  whole  earth.'  I  am  to  enter  the  gates  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  look  upon  places  of  all  others  dear  and  sacred 
to  the  Christian.  I  will  not  anticipate  impressions, 
but  sleep  and  dream,  and  awake  to  behold  what  my 
eyes  have  long  desired  to  see.  One  great  fact  has 
been  settled  in  my  mind  since  wandering  through 
Palestine— its  capacity  to  maintain  the  large  popula- 
tion said  to  have  once  lived  in  it.  It  is  indeed  a  beau- 
tiful and  wonderful  land.  The  soil  is  everywhere  very 
rich,  and  singularly  adapted  to  serve  man's  comfort. 
The  sky  is  so  serene  and  pure  that  one  beholds  a  beauty 
which  Italy  can  not  equal.  I  have  never  seen  a  spot 
of  earth  more  charming,  more  perfectly  beautiful, 
than  about  the  sea  of  Gallilee.  Standing  upon  the 
summit  of  Mount  Tabor,  a  panorama,  vast  and  splendid, 
is  presented  to  the  eye,  which  no  spot  on  earth  can 
equal.  The  scene  is  so  perfectly  harmonious  that  one 
can  not  wish  it  improved.  It  is  not  so  majestically 
grand  as  places  in  Switzerland.  It  is  not  so  vast  as 
our  prairies  of  the  West.  But  all  is  beautifully  com- 
bined. 

"  But  Jerusalem,  what  shall  I  say  of  it  ?  Here, 
after  all,  is  the  spot  most  sacred  and  memorable  of  any 
on  earth.  Sacred,  yet  it  is  not  sacred.  The  desola- 
tions of  1,800  years,  the  present  poverty,  ignorance  and 
misery  proves  it  is  not  sacred.  But  it  is  hallowed  by  the 
deepest  affection,  by  the  highest  hopes,  by  the  proudest 
triumphs  the  earth  has  ever  witnessed.  It  must  be 
ever  dear  in  the  memory  of  all  believers.  Nobody  in 
the  least  familiar  with  its  history  can  pass  through  its 
streets  unmoved.  I  sit  and  think,  and  in  my  sadness 
I  almost  wish  I  had  not  come  here ;  that  I  had  never 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  261 

looked  on  this  desolation,  darkness,  death  ;  that  I  had 
never  known  so  much  of  the  mystery  of  iniquity  which 
works  by  monkish  superstitions  upon  the  poor  credulity 
of  the  simple-hearted- — to  palm  upon  them  studied  de- 
ceptions, to  keep  them  enslaved  in  the  manacles  of 
error  and  ignorance,  and  hold  back,  if  possible,  the 
world  from  its  progress  toward  the  high  destiny  to 
which  Heaven  has  appointed  it.  It  is  so  sad  to  see, 
here,  in  this  city  of  our  God,  where  Jesus  taught  and 
suffered,  and  died  to  save  the  world  from  deception, 
error  and  sin,  and  restore  it  to  purity  and  perfection, 
so  many  evidences  of  a  people  cheated  of  those  excel- 
lent lessons ;  to  see  here  the  curse  of  sectarian  rivalry, 
put  forth  in  all  its  strength  and  subtlety  by  the  inter- 
ference of  a  Moslem  civil  power  averse  to  all  Christian 
ethics. 

';  Let  not  the  believer  be  anxious  to  visit  this  land  ; 
or  let  him  come  here  and  look  at  the  real  condition  of 
the  people,  and  feel  a  twinge  for  the  wrongs  of 
humanity,  and  then  set  about  an  inquiry  into  the  causes 
of  this  backwardness  in  everything,  this  look  of  dejec- 
tion and  poverty  that  stares  one  in  the  face  at  every 
turn,  and  he  will  find,  not  in  the  soil,  not  in  the 
climate,  not  in  the  naturally  indolent  constitution  of 
the  people,  the  reason  for  this  state  of  things,  but  in 
the  selfishness,  pride  and  arrogance  of  the  church,  by 
which  even  the  State  is  controlled.  It  is  as  men  are 
taught  to  think,  that  they  are. 

"  There  are  sights  one  sees  which  he  can  not  describe. 
There  are  thoughts  stirring  the  depths  of  the  soul  which 
can  not  be  uttered.  But  a  feeling  of  sadness  comes 
over  one,  occasioned  in  part  by  the  disappointment  that 


262  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

is  met  with  everywhere.  But  I  am  glad  to  have  been 
here,  that  I  have  looked  on  the  desolations  of  this  nat- 
urally beautiful  land.  Nay,  I  rejoice  at  the  very  ruin 
I  see.  and  more,  that  scarce  a  spot  can  be  identified  so 
as  to  become  sacred.  The  Moslem  has  his  Mecca,  the 
Jew  his  Jerusalem,  but  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of 
Christianity  is  universal.  It  is  neither  in  Gerizim  nor 
Jerusalem  that  men  must  go  to  worship,  for  •  God  is 
a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  truth."  and  •  In  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  Him  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of 
Him.'  Neither  God  nor  Christianity  can  be  localized. 
A  shudder  runs  over  me  when  I  look  on  attempts  in 
churches  and  galleries  to  represent  the  Universal 
Father.  A  similar  feeling  is  a  wakened  when  I  visit  places 
claimed  to  be  sacred.  To  see  none  of  these  did  I  come 
to  Jerusalem.  But  I  did  expect  other  emotions  than 
those  I  feel,  and  so  I  am  disappointed.  *  The  Jerusa- 
lem that  now  is.  is  in  bondage  with  her  children."  and 
how  can  a  soul  that  has  tasted  •  the  liberty  where- 
with Christ  hath  made  it  free."  be  thrilled  with 
joy  at  the  near  view  of  such  a  bondage.  IN"o, 
the  spirit  of  God  and  Christ  is  not  in  any  one  place. 
it  is  nut  in  any  temple  human  hands  may  rear,  but 
in  every  true,  honest,  Christian  heart.  It  is  in  all 
the  earth.  I  weep  to  see  men  and  women,  and  chil- 
dren, kneel  and  bow  and  kiss  a  stone,  a  fragment 
of  cloth,  or  a  piece  of  wood.  All  these  things  are  pain- 
ful to  me  :  I  can  not  endure  them.  I  turn  and  go  away 
in  pity,  almost  in  disgust.  But  I  see  in  Christianity,  as 
taught  by  the  great  Master,  a  power  that  is  to  correct 
all  this.     My  faith  grows  stronger  every  day.  and  I  am 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALOH.  263 

more  than  ever  thankful  for  the  broad  and  compre- 
hensive views  revealed  to  us  in  the  Gospel,  and  more 
than  ever  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  presenting 
them  among  men.  A  more  liberal  spirit  is  to  go 
abroad  in  all  the  earth.  The  world  must  be  civilized ; 
it  must  be  Christianized  and  redeemed.  All  fetters 
must  fall  off.  The  prison  doors  are  all  to  burst  open, 
and  the  captives  to  be  set  free.  It  will  come.  In  God's 
time  it  will  come,  and  that  will  be  soon  enough.  Amen 
— let  it  come.     But  I  must  go." 

And  he  now  sets  out  for  his  home,  unable  to  sup- 
press his  emotions  as  he  gazes  for  the  last  time  upon 
the  scene  he  is  leaving  behind.  He  could  not  tell  why, 
but  it  was  so  that  he  wept,  as  if  parting  with  the  dear- 
est friend.  As  he  went  on  his  way,  his  heart  beating 
heavily,  he  was  in  a  mood  for  poetizing,  and  he  writes 
the  following  : 

CKOSSING  THE  DESERT. 

A  special  doggerel,  written  on  the  back  of  a  camel,  while 
crossing  the  desert  from  Palestine  to  Egypt,  and  read  to  the  party  at 
an  evening  encampment: 

Travelers  from  my  native  land, 

Pilgrims  o'er  this  burning  sand, 

To  kill  the  tedium  of  the  day, 

And  while  the  hours  move  swift  away, 

I  sing  to  you  this  jolting  lay, 

Poor  scribbling  of  a  shaking  hand. 

With  Ardbs  for  a  guaranty, 
Of  Hadjis  any  quantity, 
Fifteen  in  our  own  merry  band 
From  Britain  and  the  Yankee-land, 
We  make  a  splendid  caravan 
Of  wandering  humanity. 

We've  doctors,  lawyers,  pastors  here, 
Of  danger  who  has  need  to  fear? 


264  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

A  Wolverine  of  gold  to  tell, 
Three  youngsters  who  can  buy  and  sell, 
Three  dames,  and  four  chere  demoiselles 
To  keep  us  all  in  right  good  cheer. 

Of  camels  we  have  forty  four, 

And  horses  six  or  seven  more, 

Eight  tents,  with  beds  and  stools  and  dishes 

For  soups  and  prunes,  for  rice  and  fishes, 

(Who  cares  for  poverty  and  riches?) 

With  a  desert  for  a  floor. 

So  far  there  has  been  no  contention, 
Tho'  some  have  murmured  at  detention; 
With  dragomen  we're  well  supplied, 
And  cooks  whose  talents  have  been  tried 
On  kids  and  chickens,  baked  and  fried, 
And  plates  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Here  no  one  has  satiety, 

Nor  bother  and  anxiety, 

Of  traveler's  woes  tbVbitterest  dreg 

But  cakes  and  kids  and  chicks  and  eggs, 

And  scorpions  of  forty  legs, 

To  add  to  the  variety. 

All  ranged,  we  slowly  pass  along, 

Amoodish,  merry,  motley  throng; 

Some  read,  some  chat,  and  some  are  thinking, 

Some  scold,  some  eat,  and  some  are  drinking, 

The  young,  may  be,  at  others  blinking, 

Or  join  the  loud  and  laughing  song. 

Then  he  tells  us  something  of 

DESERT  LIFE. 

A  life  on  the  desert  is  no  life  for  me; 
The  wild  wastes  so  barren  there's  nothing  to  see; 
The  sun  shines  too  brilliant,  too  constantly  bright: 
There's  no  hour  of  comfort  but  the  dark  hour  of  night. 
Yet  the  desert  has  lessons  by  which  to  improve — 
There's  misery  below,  bliss  and  beauty  above. 
While  passing  through  one  and  bearing  the  bother, 
'Tis  best  to  be  patient,  and  hope  for  the  other. 
A  few  days'  endurance  and  all  will  be  o'er, 
The  desert  behind  us,  the  sweet  Nile  before; 
The  lone  land  of  Bed'weens,  and  Jackalls'  alarms. 
Exchanged  for  green  fields  and  the  shadow  of  palms, 
So  when  done  with  the  ills,  temptations  and  strife, 
Which  throng  on  our  paths  in  the  desert  of  life, 
May  me  meet  in  that  world  where  no  sorrow  is  found; 
But  love,  joy  and  praise  immortal  abound. 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  265 

It  was  while  here  that  they  held  a  Christmas  serv- 


ice, and  sung 


A  CHRISTMAS  HYMN 


Which  had  been  suggested  by  seeiDg  the  Morning  Star  rise  over 
Bethlehem. 

A  star  shone  bright  o'er  Bethlehem's  plains, 

Blessed  herald  of  Immortal  birth  ! 
And  angels  sang  in  heavenly  strains, 

Good-will  to  men  and  peace  on  earth. 

From  that  lone  star  a  Light  went  forth 

To  banish  sin,  a  world  to  save: 
To  scatter  blessings  south  and  north, 

And  burst  the  barriers  of  the  grave. 

The  blind  have  seen,  the  deaf  have  heard, 
The  sick  been  healed,  the  lost  been  found, 

The  dead  been  raised,  the  sad  been  cheered, 
And  blessings  spread  the  world  around. 

Shine  forth,  bright  Star,  disperse  the  clouds  ! 

That  shadow  still  this  sinning  earth  ! 
Let  men  arise,  come  forth  in  crowds, 

And  glory  in  immortal  truth  ! 

During  the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  having  now 
given  up  the  care  of  a  parish,  and  with  a  wonderful 
love  of  travel,  as  also  in  the  way  of  health-seeking,  he 
made  several  visits  from  home  to  California  in  1880, 
to  Mexico  in  1881,  to  Colorado  in  1882,  and  to  Florida 
in  1882,  1884.  and  1887,  besides  other  visits  paid  to 
ISTew  England  and  the  Middle  and  Southern  States. 

Of  Mexico  he  says:  "  We  have  seen  and  learned 
much,  and  enjoyed  considerable.  Few  of  the  comforts 
of  travel  enjoyed  in  our  country,  we  may  say,  are  found 
here.  The  traveler  who  would  be  wise  and  profit  bv 
what  he  sees  must  make  up  his  mind  to  take  things  as 
he  finds  them,  and  not  complain  because  they  differ 
from  the  comforts  and  customs  of  home,  else  he  may 
make  himself  and  all  about  him,  needlesslv  miserable. 


266  THE    LIFE  AND    LABOKS    OF 

As  he  can  not  control  the  world,  it  is  wiser  to  resolve 
to  make  the  best  of  everything,  a  doctrine  not  very 
inappropriate  anywhere. 

"  The  City  of  Mexico  is  decidedly  one  of  the  most 
romantically  situated  of  any  I  have  ever  seen,  Naples, 
Constantinople  and  Damascus  not  excepted.  To  jot 
down  all  one  sees  and  hears  and  learns,  so  unlike  any 
in  our  own  country,  would  be  a  long  and  laborious 
task.  To  one  familiar  with  cities  and  customs  of  the 
Old  World,  all  is  plainer  and  more  easily  compre- 
hended. Mexico  is  not  an  American  city  in  its  char- 
acteristics. It  is  an  exotic,  imported  from  Spain,  and 
bears  a  near  resemblance  to  its  Moorish  relations.  The 
visitor  sees  and  feels  at  every  turn  that  he  is  in  a  for- 
eign land.  Yery  few  things  will  remind  him  of  his 
own  country.  The  look  and  language  of  the  people, 
the  streets  and  houses,  churches  and  state  buildings, 
carriages  and  horses — everything  is  to  him  unique  and 
strange.  The  cookery  and  service  is  as  unsatisfactory 
as  anj^thing  he  encounters.  To  describe  the  condition, 
character  and  manners  of  the  people  would  be  no  easy 
tasks. 

u  The  gathered  multitudes  in  the  market,  in  the 
streets,  in  the  churches,  in  the  plaza,  anywhere  and 
everywhere,  present  pictures  of  variety  from  the  ex- 
tremest  poverty  and  almost  nakedness,  to  the  richest 
attire  and  gaudiest  display  seen  in  the  richest  adorn- 
ments of  the  churches  and  decorations  of  the  officiating 
priests,  the  latter  surpassing  Rome  itself.  Men  are 
seen  staggering  under  heavy  burdens  borne  upon  their 
shoulders  —  wardrobes,  bureaus,  counters  of  stores, 
square  blocks  of  stone  for  buildings,  large  jugs  of 
water  laid  upon  their  hips,  held  by  broad  straps  around 
their  foreheads,  with  another  smaller  jug  hanging  in 
front  from  the  main  strap  as  it  passes  by  the  neck ; 
bales  and  boxes  of  goods,  and  women  with  baskets  and 
bundles  on  their  heads,  showing  there  are  two-legged, 
as  well  as  four- legged  beasts  of  burden.     But  after  all, 


KEV.  WILLIAM    STEVEN8    BALCH.  267 

Mexico  is  a  fine  city,  and  the  most  grandly  situated  in 
its  surroundings  of  almost  any  I  ever  saw.  Short  in- 
terviews with  the  more  intelligent  confirmed  me  in  the 
faith  that  Mexico  is  started  on  the  high  road  of  perma- 
nent advancement.  It  will  take  a  long  time  and  much 
effort,  to  bring  this  singular  compound  of  humanit 
into  the  full  enjoyment  of  equal  rights  and  universal 
liberty  and  fraternity.  It  may  be  a  long  and  hard 
road  to  travel,  but  it  is  confidently  hoped  they  will 
reach  it  ere  long,  and  together  share  all  the  safety  and 
blessings  that  belong  to  a  true  democratic  republic." 

Of  Florida  he  has  this  to  say  :  "  It  is  Florida,  and 
not  much  else.  It  is  not  a  paradise,  nor  a  very  near 
approach  to  it.  It  boasts  of  its  climate,  which  is  in- 
deed xei-y  delightful  for  comfortable  invalids,  and  for 
those  who  would  escape  the  rough  winters  of  the 
North.  Facts  prove  that  it  is  more  sought  for  pleasure 
than  for  health,  and  most  for  profit  by  those  who  come 
to  settle.  Orange  orchards  are  the  rage,  and  those  who 
have  patience  to  bide  their  time,  and  learn  the  business 
well,  reap  handsome  profits  afterward.  On  the  whole, 
Florida  has  many  advantages  to  satisfy  the  emigrant 
who  would  make  it  his  home.  It  has  a  fine  climate, 
cheap  lands,  good  timber  and  water ;  and  for  the  pru- 
dent liver  and  worker,  a  fair  chance  for  good  health 
and  comfort.  But  it  is  flat,  has  many  sluggish  rivers, 
much  poor  land,  large  swamps,  and  of  course  is  subject 
to  billious  diseases,  fevers,  etc.,  where  the  people  are 
imprudent.  It  is  a  delightful  region  for  winter  resi- 
dence. Hotels  of  first  quality  and  highest  prices,  and 
lodging  houses  are  numerous,  and  some  very  excellent. 
Having  tried  both,  I  am  confident  that  for  health  and 
quiet  comfort,  Florida  is  superior  to  Italy.  It  has  not 
the  scenery,  antiquities  and  works  of  art  found  there, 
yet  there  is  a  uniqueness  and  wierdness  of  romance 
here  that  is  found  no  where  else. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HOME    LIFE    AND    VARIED    EMPLOYMENTS. 

Mr.  Balch  was  happily  married  twice — in  the  years 
of  1829  and  1856.  His  first  wife  was  Adeline  C.  Cap- 
ron,  who  was  born  in  Winchester,  X.  EL,  and  his  sec- 
ond, Mary  A.  Waterhouse,  born  in  New  York  City, 
both  of  them  estimable  women.  The  number  of  his 
children  born  to  him  in  all,  was  eleven,  eight  by  his 
first  wife,  and  three  by  his  last,  only  six  of  the  former 
wife's  surviving  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  two  of 
the  latter's,Clarence  dying  in  1864,  Charles  in  18T2,and 
Elena  in  1876-.  He  had  also  eleven  grandchildren, 
and  two  great  grandchildren,  neither  of  which  he  ever 
saw,  the  first  being  born  only  a  few  short  weeks,  and 
the  latter  coining  as  a  little  stranger  to  be  telegraphed 
to  him,  but  three  days  before  his  death.  He  had  a 
frugal,  but  welcome  home,  and  a  ready  s}rmpathy  with 
all  worthy  virtues,  and  all  good  energies.  I  will  not 
intrude  into  the  most  sacred  and  intimate  of  his  domes- 
tic relations,  since  silence  and  imagination  can  alone 
picture  his  fidelity  there,  but  I  may  be  permitted  to 
refer  to  the  singular  faithfulness  and  persevering  exact- 
itude with  which  he  ever  performed  the  duties  of  a 
father  and  careful  provider,  being  kind,  thoughtful, 
tender,  affectionate,  indulgent,  doing  everything  possi- 
ble for  his  family,  and  cherished  and  loved  by  them  as 
we  can  not  tell. 

268 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

He  was  a  great  favorite  of  the  children  of  his  home, 
and  of  children  generally,  participating  in  all  their  lit- 
tle sports  and  amusements  ;  and  there  was  no  limit  to 
the  ingenuity,  variety  and  ease  with  which  he  sought 
to  give  them  pleasure.  He  seemed  to  always  keep 
young  and  playful  with  them,  frequently  catching 
them  up  and  swinging  them  over  his  head,  and  running 
up  and  down  stairs  with  them,  which  made  him  the  best 
of  company  with  the  young  as  well  as  the  old.  He 
knew  nothing  more  holy  than  the  heart  of  an  innocent 
child,  and  loved  the  gush  of  its  guileless  glee.  How 
else  shall  we  account  for  the  following  poetical  effu- 
sion, written  off-hand,  at  a  time  when  his  afternoon 
nap  had  been  disturbed  b}^  the  prattling  of  an  infant 
grandchild  which  had  been  born  into  the  home,  and 
was  with  its  mother  in  the  room  above  him  % 

There  is  a  baby  in  the  house,  I  ween, 
As  bright,  as  sweet,  as  ever  yet  was  seen, 

I  hear  it  laugh  ;  I  hear  it  play. 

It  chirps,  and  prattles  all  the  day  ; 

And  helps  to  drive  dull  care  away, 
That  home  is  happy  now. 

The  mother's  heart,  though  youDg,  is  full  of  joy; 
The  father's  glad  to  fiud  a  new  employ; 

Both  cLeery  with  their  new-born  love  ; 

An  angel  sent  them  from  above, 

Delight  in  duty's  path  to  move, 
For  life  is  real  now. 

That  heart  is  sad  indeed  which  never  felt, 

Tight  drawn  the  silken  strands  which  form  the  belt 

Of  social  life,  and  help  to  bind, 

The  noblest  passions  of  the  mind, 

A  happier  state  on  earth  to  find, 
A  universe  of  love. 

As  rays  of  light  that  center  in  the  sun, 
As  drops  in  rills  that  to  the  ocean  run, 
So  all  that  is,  or  was  begun, 

18 


270  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

Shall,  when  the  perfect  work  is  done, 
Unite,  and  happy  be  in  one, 
In  the  great  God  above. 

He  believed  that  we  commit  not  only  an  error,  but  a 
most  grievous  moral  wrong,  when  we  check  the  child 
in  its  glow  of  natural  playfulness.  The  thing  was  to 
see  that  this  exuberance,  or  outburst,  was  guided  aright. 
He  was  always  glad  at  their  gladness,  and  enjoyed 
spending  days  in  giving  them  cheer,  and  assisting  to 
make  them  happy. 

I  shall  never  forget  a  circumstance  that  transpired 
at  the  dedication  of  the  church  at  Scotland,  Windham 
County,  Conn.  Bro.  Balch  was  brought  on  from  New 
York  City  to  preach  the  sermon,  and  the  church  was 
filled  to  its  fullest  capacity,  clear  to  the  entrance  way. 
A  woman  with  a  babe  in  her  arms  was  at  the  very  cen- 
ter of  the  crowd,  with  no  chance  to  gain  an  exit,  and 
just  as  the  sermon  was  proceeding  in  its  best  vein,  her 
child  set  up  crying  at  a  terrible  rate.  The  woman, 
greatly  disturbed,  could  find  no  way  to  still  it,  and 
she  knew  not  what  to  do.  There  she  was  with  the 
painful  situation  confronting  her.  As  soon  as  Bro. 
Batch's  attention  was  drawn  to  the  anxiety  of  the 
mother,  he  stopped,  remarking  that  he  never  saw  the 
time  when  he  would  not  much  rather  hear  a  child  cry 
than  to  listen  to  the  piping  of  the  most  musical  hand 
oro-an  he  ever  heard  in  his  life.  In  turning  his  attention 
in  the  direction  where  the  child  was,  it  seemed  to  take 
in  the  situation  and  stop  crying,  as  though  itself  had 
been  spoken  to,  and  was  comprehending  the  full  pur- 
port of  the  words.  The  mother  was  so  grateful  to 
Bro.  Balch  as  to  wait  (though  a  perfect  stranger)  till 


KEY.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  271 

the  crowd  had  dispersed,   that  she  might  meet  him  and 

thank  him  as  she  passed  out  at  the  door. 

With  his  views  of  childhood  the  Sunday  school 
picnic  was  made  pleasant  to  him,  and  he  made  it  a 
point  to  be  always  present  at  such  gatherings  of  the 
children.  You  never  would  know  but  he  enjoyed  it  as 
much  as  they  did.  Many  of  us  have  witnessed  him  run- 
ning and  laughing  and  playing  like  a  boy.  He  indeed 
sought  to  give  pleasure  to  everybody,  adapting  him- 
self to  all  kinds  of  society. 

I  find  our  Bro.  Eddy  referring  to  this  after  the  fol- 
lowing manner : 

"I  remember  him  as  very  accessible  to  children 
and  very  much  loved  by  them.  His  interest  in  the 
Sunday-school  is  well  remembered,  and  to  him  I  think 
we  are  indebted  for  what  is  now  known  as  the  Sun- 
day-school Concert,  originally  called  the  Sunday- 
school  Exhibition;  the  first  of  which  was  given  in 
Providence.  R  I.,  during  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Balch. 
about  forty-eight  years  ago.  It  was  then  regarded 
as  a  great,  if  not  dangerous  innovation,  and  was  de- 
nounced by  the  so-called  orthodox  as  introducing  the 
theatre  into  the  church.  About  the  same  time  Mr. 
Balch  arranged  an  excursion  and  a  picnic  for  the  Sun- 
day-school, which  was  probably  the  first  attempt  at 
what  is  now  so  popular  in  all  the  sects;  it  was  then  looked 
upon  as  a  very  vicious  thing,  a  frivolous  use  of  precious 
time." 

It  was  about  this  time,  in  1839 ,  that  he  prepared 
and  published  his  Sunday-school  Manual,  the  first  of 
the  kind  ever  given  to  the  public.  The  history  of  its 
origin  I  learn  was  this  :  He  was  to  exchange  with 
Hosea  Ballou  Second,  and  was  told  that  he  would  have  to 
lead  the  prayer  of  the  Sunday-school,  or  write  a  prayer 


272  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

for  the  superintendent  to  read,  and  out  of  it  came  this 
publication.  lie  wrote  it  while  in  Providence,  and  was 
discouraged  by  brethren  from  ever  publishing  it,  but 
afterwards  did  publish  30,000.  It  contains  about  all 
that  any  of  the  later  manuals  have  brought  out.  It 
can  not  be  denied  that  Mr.  Balch  always  loved  children, 
and  that  there  was  always  a  sensitiveness  with  him 
about  being  supposed  to  grow  old.  He  intended  to 
keep  himself  always  young  in  spirit,  as  the  years  should 
come  and  go. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  life  he  had  repeated  family 
gatherings;  and  on  the  occasion  of  his  seventy-fifth 
birthday,  not  only  the  various  members  of  his  immedi- 
ate family,  but  other  kindred  and  friends  were  collected, 
to  nearly  a  hundred,  and  never  was  he  made  more 
happy  than  on  such  occasions,  for  his  heart  was  full  of 
filial  and  fraternal  affection.  If  presents  were  not  con- 
sidered generally  in  order  at  such  festivities,  this  event 
was  seized  upon  to  make  him  the  recipient  of  a  valua- 
able  gold  watch  from  Elgin  friends,  and  at  the  banquet 
given  him  in  Chicago  five  }^ears  later,  at  his  eightieth 
birthday,  a  gold-headed  cane. 

*  *  *  ■*  -*  * 

We  have  marked  him  as  a  man  of  varied  employ- 
ments, and  greal  versatility  of  talent.  We  have  no 
one  in  mind,  and  are  quite  sure  we  have  never  known 
the  person,  with  a  greater  variety  of  gifts,  capable  of 
being  made  available  in  so  many  different  ways.  He 
was  constantly  forming  new  plans,  and  engaging  in 
new  duties,  which  bore  almost  uniformly  the  character 
of  usefulness.  His  life  was  full  of  striking  incidents  ; 
and  in  this  way  has  he  built  for  himself  a  monument  of 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  273 

enduring  praise.  Unceasing  activity  was  one  of  his 
chief  characteristics,  and  it  was  impossible  to  meet 
him  without  feeling  his  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  his 
determination  to  work,  hour  by  hour,  and  day  by  day, 
to  accomplish  all  the  good  he  could.  His  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  perseverance  were  simply  marvelous.  Call 
upon  him  when  you  would,  you  would  always  find 
him  doing  something1  in  the  way  of  cultivating  his 
grounds  or  making  repairs  about  the  premises,  or  he 
was  reading  a  book,  preparing  a  sermon,  or  writing  an 
article  for  publication  which  he  wanted  to  show  you ; 
ready  to  turn  aside  for  a  social  call,  and  entertain  you 
as  interestingly  as  though  he  had  never  anything  else 
to  do. 

He  was  certainly  a  busy  man  in  his  home.  There 
was  no  spark  of  idleness  in  his  nature.  It  could  be 
said  of  his  life  that  it  was  full  of  work ;  that  it  was 
busy  all  through  it,  and  that  he  was  alert  on  some  duty, 
and  in  spurring  others  to  duty.  His  advice  to  his  stu- 
dents was,  Always  keep  the  barrel  full,  and  then  when 
you  tap  it  it  will  be  sure  and  run  out. 

It  did  seem  as  though  he  knew  how  to  do  every- 
thing of  the  common  kind,  as  well  as  the  best.  He 
could  tell  you  in  what  way  to  cook  a  meal  of  victuals, 
and  accomplish  all  kinds  of  out-door  and  in-door  matters, 
from  the  making  of  a  book-jack  to  the  repairing  of  a 
watch,  and  the  regulating  0f  a  steam  engine;  but  he 
sought  most  of  all  to  cultivate  the  activities  which  find 
expression  in  doing  needful  things. 

He  was  never  the  man  that  wanted  to  be  waited 
upon.  If  anything  needed  to  be  done,  he  knew  no 
other  way  than  to  go  right  about  it  and  do  it  :  always 
willing  to  do  more  than  his  part  in  everything. 


274  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

He  found  greatest  delight  in  reading  and  medita- 
tion. He  had  but  little  time  for  desultory  or  promiscu- 
ous reading,  but  perused  with  deep  satisfaction  all  use- 
ful and  profitable  works  that  came  within  his  reach,  as 
promising  to  add  to  his  information ;  to  suggest 
thought,  or  to  elevate  and  ennoble  his  mind.  His  aim 
was  to  discharge  every  duty  that  would  aid  his  fellow 
men,  as  far  as  circumstances  would  allow,  and  never 
lose  an  opportunity  of  doing  good. 

There  are  very  many  traits  of  character  for  which 
Brother  Balch  was  distinguished,  without  some  men- 
tion of  which  any  sketch  of  him  would  be  singularly 
incomplete.  Of  course  we  can  be  expected  to  mention 
only  a  small  part  of  these,  and  multiply  them  as  much 
as  we  will,  there  would  be  still  those  to  say:  We  could 
have  told  you  of  many  more.  To  let  one  who  was 
invited  to  his  bedside  during  his  last  illness,  as  also  to 
speak  words  of  commendation  and  comfort  at  the 
last  parting  farewell,  give  expression  to  his  own 
thought  of  his  general  mental  and  moral  characteris- 
tics, it  would  be  to  say,  "  I  have  regarded  him  as  a 
clear  writer,  an  eloquent  preacher,  a  faithful  pastor,  and 
a  most  careful  observer  of  men  and  things,  and  events- 
He  was  simple  in  his  tastes  ;  modest  in  his  demeanor; 
honest  in  all  his  dealings  with  his  fellow  men  ;  catho- 
lic in  his  spirit,  and  consecrated  to  the  mission  of 
making  men  better.  "Wherever  he  found  grace  of 
character  he  greeted  it  warmly,  and  applauded  it. 
His  esteem  for  manhood  and  womanhood,  transcended 
all  sectarian  limits.  The  real  breadth  of  good  which 
he  achieved  cannot  be  easily  measured."  Another 
puts  his  estimate  in  this  way:     il  He  was  a  good  man  : 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  275 

a  great  preacher;  a  zealous  Christian,  a  broad  thinker, 
a  friend  to  all  humanity,  a  leader  in  every  good  word 
and  work.  He  exhibited  a  clearness  of  mind,  a 
soundness  of  judgment,  and  an  acquaintance  with  all 
the  great  subjects  of  thought  and  interest  that  are 
commending  themselves  to  the  respect  of  the  wise  and 
the  good."  And  without  assuming  the  office  of  coun- 
sellor or  advisor,  or  appearing  to  know  that  he  had  the 
capacity  for  imparting  information,  or  of  especially  ex- 
erting influence  in  any  direction,  he  was  constantly 
dropping  precious  words,  and  useful  hints,  conveyed  in 
varied  manner  and  thus  helping  others  to  help  them- 
selves. He  was  frequently  applied  to  by  young  and  old, 
as  one  possessing  admirable  wisdom  ;  inspiration,  in- 
formation, insight,  and  ripeness  of  soul.  And  by 
virtue  of  these  he  knew  how  to  admonish,  and  did  not 
hesitate  (in  deeming  it  necessary)  to  reprove.  He  was 
ever  thinking  how  to  do  good,  and  in  what  way  his 
ministrations  could  be  made  most  useful.  In  this  he 
displayed  the  same  excellent  traits  which  distinguished 
him  in  every  field  in  which  he  wrought. 

It  is  no  small  compliment  to  him  to  say.  that  while 
he  was  a  good  preacher,  he  was  also  a  good  hearer ; 
that  he  was  equally  as  good  a  parishioner  as  pastor. 
We  might  presume  it  a  somewhat  difficult  thing  for 
an  aged  minister,  after  preaching  many  years,  and  re- 
tiring from  the  office  of  preacher  and  pastor,  not  to 
assume  superiority  among  the  people,  from  his  long 
and  varied  experience.  The  force  of  habit,  the  con- 
sciousness of  an  unimpaired  interest  in  his  work,  and 
the  continued  esteem  and  confidence  of  friends  who 
remain  as  cordiallv  attached  to   him  as  ever,  all  con- 


276  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

spire  to  make  him  reluctant  to  leave  the  field  in  which 
he  has  so  delightfully  labored.  To  be  willing  to  re- 
sign the  place  to  another,  and  that,  too,  gracefully, 
with  commendable  meekness,  is  evidence  of  a 
right  religious  temper.  But  all  who  have  known  Mr. 
Balch  will  bear  witness  that  he  left  the  pulpit  for  the 
pew  in  a  way  to  command  respect,  and  set  a  bright 
example  to  all  others.  I  may  quote  here  the  words  of 
Brother  Alcott,  the  Elgin  pastor,  given  at  the  time  of 
Brother  Balch' s  Memorial  Service  appointed  for  the 
Fox  Kiver  association.     His  words  are : 

"  It  has  not  always  been  found  an  easy  matter,  after 
a  man  has  been  a  good  and  eminent  pastor  and 
preacher  to  become,  when  his  work  is  done,  also  an 
eminently  good  parishioner.  This  latter  character  im- 
plies other  and  additional  rare  qualities.  It  implies  an 
utter  absence  of  self-conceit.  It  implies  a  disposition 
to  help  in  the  best  possible  wa}7  a  fellow- workman.  It 
proves  an  enlightened  and  exquisite  sense  of  all  fine 
proprieties  and  courtesies  of  such  a  situation  and  such 
a  relation. 

*  *  *  *  #  * 

"  The  first  time  I  ever  met  him  on  coming  into  this 
field,  I  felt  that  I  had  met  a  noble,  royal  soul.  I  never 
had  the  slightest  reason  or  occasion  for  mod  ify  ing  in  any 
adverse  respect  this  opinion.  On  the  contrary,  many 
things  transpired  to  confirm,  to  strengthen  it.  I  had 
no  fear  of  him.  At  his  hand  I  met  with  the  heartiest 
kind  of  a  welcome.  He  impressed  me  at  once  as  hav- 
ing, not  a  selfish,  but  an  unselfish  nature ;  as  having, 
not  a  cold,  but  a  warm  heart;  as  having,  not  a  narrow, 
but  a  broad  mind. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

"  What  kind  of  a  parishioner  was  Dr.  Balch  ?  A 
model  one ;  a  grand  one  ;  one   who  was  trusted  and 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  277 

honored  and  loved ;  and  one  whose  matured  views 
were  most  helpful  on  the  many  and  varied  subjects  of 
work  and  doctrine.  His  pastor,  whoever  he  might  be, 
could  feel  that  back  of  all  his  earnest,  honest  efforts  in 
the  work  of  the  parish  he  would  find  tins  father  in 
Israel,  encouraging,  approving,  helping-,  saying  a  good 
word — always!  His  was  no  lnkewarmness,  no  indif- 
ference, but  his  were  ever  the  heartiest  of  wishes  and 
helps.  His  pastor  could  never  have  a  suspicion  of 
whispers  by  him  behind  his  back,  and  he  would  never 
happen  on  any  traces  of  words  spoken  to  his  disad- 
vantage in  his  absence.  He  could  never  feel  that  this 
distinguished  preacher,  and  practicer  of  the  gospel  as 
well,  was  capable  of  this ;  but  would  feel  that  himself 
and  his  interests  were  as  secure  in  the  hands  of  this 
true  friend  as  in  his  own.  This  is  rare  merit.  Or,  if  it 
be  not  rare  it  is  at  any  rate  glorious  merit." 

We  account  for  this  in  part  by  saying  that  he  had 
none  of  the  airs  of  superiority.  He  never  sought  for 
prominent  positions  among  his  brethren,  or  to  take  any 
high  seat  in  the  synagogue.  You  never  thought  of 
him  as  putting  on  airs,  or  doing  anything  for  effect. 
Try  and  conceive  of  him  as  making  a  display  of  him- 
self in  any  role  in  which  he  might  appear  to  his  fel- 
lowmen,  and  you  will  discover  at  once  its  impossibility. 
He  was  always  just  what  he  seemed  to  be.  There  was 
no  ostentation  in  anything  he  ever  did.  He  gave  the  lie 
forever  to  all  false  pride,  refusing  to  tolerate  anything 
of  pompousness  or  parade.  If  he  was  ever  ambitious, 
his  ambition  had  in  it  no  taint  of  envy.  Had  he  been 
a  proud  man  he  would  have  coveted  honors,  but  he  was 
a  plain  man  without  anything  of  pretension,  and  may 
be  considered  as  having  had  a  perfect  horror  of  every- 
thing artificial,  of  all  show,  and  sham  of  every  charac- 


278  THE    LIFE    AND    LIBORS    OF 

ter.  With  all  his  splendid  gifts,  it  ^ill  not  be  said  that 
he  ever  sought  to  shine.  He  looked  upon  a  large  share 
of  the  fashions  and  foibles,  as  well  as  the  glitter  and 
glamour  of  the  world,  as  the  things  that  were  gone 
into  to  please  a  false  taste,  and  he  had  to  think  of  theni 
as  heartless  mummery. 

It  was  this  simplicity  of  character  that  made  you 
feel  perfectly  at  ease  in  his  presence,  introducing  him, 
and  making  him  welcome  in  all  classes  of  society.  He 
would  come  into  your  home,  and  it  would  seem  as  if 
you  had  been  acquainted  with  him  for  years.  And  it 
was  this  also  that  gave  him  his  aversion  to  all  high- 
sounding  names,  and  titles  of  honor  and  distinction, 
which  so  illy  comported  with  the  primitive  equality  of 
souls,  and  the  common  brotherhood  of  believers,  and 
which  partook  more  of  the  spirit  and  distinctions  of 
the  world  than  the  humble  spirit  of  Jesus;  and  the 
honor  which  comes  from  men  more  than  the  honor 
which  comes  from  God.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that 
plain  "  Mister  "  was  the  best  possible  designation  which 
Christians  could  properly  employ  as  a  title  of  honor  or 
respect,  with  but  one  exception — that  of  "  Brother." 

It  was  the  Institution  at  Canton  that  bestowed  on 
Brother  Balch  what  is  considered  the  honorary  degree 
of  D.  D..  the  first  ever  conferred  upon  any  one  by  it,  in 
recognition  of  his  valuable  services  rendered  in  behalf 
of  the  Institution  and  the  church;  but  it  was  never  by 
any  understanding  with  himself,  and  he  never  accepted 
it.  It  was  a  thing  that,  could  regard  have  been  paid 
to  his  feelings,  would  never  have  been.  I  find  in  his 
scrap-book  where  the  D.  D.  has  been  attached  to  articles 
sent  for  publication,  and  in  preserving  these  it  has  been 


REV.   WILLIAM    8TEVBN8    BALCH.  279 

erased,  or  crossed  out  with  pencil  mark.  One  of  the 
two  or  three  last  sentences  he  caused  to  be  written,  is 
the  following  :  Calling  his  wife  to  his  bedside,  he  re- 
quested her  to  pen  among  other  things  for  the  benefit 
of  his  brethren,  the  words,  "  Suppose  the  Popes,  Cardi- 
nals, Archbishops,  Bishops,  Lord  Bishops,  and  all  the 
retinue  of  Clergy,  in  their  richest  and  gayest  robes  of 
attire,  had  appeared  at  the  Last  Supper  on  Mount  Zion, 
would  Jesus  have  accepted  them  approvingly,  and  be- 
stowed upon  them  the  heavenly  bendiction  ( "  He  was 
sure  he  would  not,  till  they  were  first  denuded  of  some 
of  their  trappings,  and  had  become  of  a  very  different 
spirit. 

I  had  started  out  at  one  time  to  make  a  chapter  of 
his  miscellaneous  poetry,  but  found  that  while  he  wrote 
with  greatest  ease,  and  gave  evidence  of  abundant 
poetic  talent,  and  had  written  more  or  less  of  good 
poetry,  yet  for  some  reason,  either  that  prose  was  more 
suited  to  his  original  taste,  and  he  conceived  less  pleas- 
ure in  poetic  composition,  or  he  had  not  the  time  for 
weaving  his  words  into  rhymes,  and  marshalling  them 
in  a  manner  that  they  might  be  made  to  jingle;  for 
these  or  other  reasons,  his  talent  for  versification  had 
not  flourished  equal  to  his  zeal  for  many  other  things, 
and  instead  of  a  department  for  his  museful  flights,  his 
lyrical  indulgences  have  been  scattered  throughout  the 
volume  to  do  service  wherever  they  might.  It  will  be 
acknowledged  that,  for  the  most  part,  Brother  Balch 
wrote  practically,  but  never  prosaically,  even  when 
treatiu^-  of  the  gravest  of  matters.  He  could  not  ex- 
cuse  himself  in  what  was  liable  to  be  regarded  as  an 
attempt  at  display.     His  effort  from  his  earliest  years 


280  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

had  been  to  devote  himself  to  schemes  of  usefulness  ; 
to  spread  goodness  and  happiness  everywhere  around 
him.  and  to  leave  in  every  community  in  which  he 
might  reside  the  impress  of  a  most  rare  influence,  doing 
service  to  his  kind  in  all  natural,  easy  and  helpful  ways. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  true  manliness  of 
Brother  Batch's  character  has  stood  very  largely  in  the 
naturalness,  and  simplicity  of  his  demeanor,  together 
with  a  disinterestedness  and  fraternity  of  feeling,  such 
as  are  rarely  found  combined  in  any  one  person  to  the 
same  extent. 

I  am  not  presuming  that  many  have  ever  thought 
of  Mr.  Balch  as  a  diffident  man.  and  yet  I  must  tell  the 
reader,  that,  with  my  large  acquaintance  with  him,  I 
have  often  wondered  if  he  was  not  thus ;  especially 
when  it  came  to  estimating  the  value  of  his  own  abili- 
ties and  labors,  a  thing  which  he  never  got  entirely 
over  in  his  long  life.  I  have  always  observed,  when 
praising  some  effort  of  his,  that  he  was  almost  sure  to 
laugh  away  the  point  of  my  criticism,  and  he  would 
not  leave  the  subject  till  he  had  depreciated  himself 
and  his  effort  to  the  last  degree.  Xot  that  he  shrunk 
from  the  performance  of  any  duty,  when  it  came  to  be 
viewed  in  that  light ;  but,  meeting  him  in  public,  he 
never  impressed  you  as  a  bold  person,  or  as  possessing 
a  self-satisfied  confidence  ;  but  there  was  a  kind  of 
natural  reserve,  a  retiring  and  unassuming  modesty, 
often  a  hesitating,  and  waiting  to  be  relieved,  and 
letting  others  say  the  thing  which  was  required  to  be 
said,  if  they  would.  Making  the  inquiry  of  his  com- 
panion more  recently  respecting  this,  to  know  if  T  was 
right  in   it.  she  assured  me  that   I   was.   though  con- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  281 

vinced  that  it  was  in  part  a  concealed  aversion  to 
flattery,  which  was  liable  to  be  mixed  with  the  praise 
that  was  bestowed,  and  for  which  he  had  nothing  but 
the  most  utter  detestation.  We  may  all  have  a  desire 
to  be  thought  well  of ;  and  most  persons  who  have 
lived  long  and  well,  and  labored  arduously  in  building 
up  a  character  for  themselves,  find  it  pleasurable  to  be 
had  in  grateful  recollection  as  we  may  presume,  and 
wish  to  be  loved  for  their  work's  sake ;  but  we  can 
hardly  think  of  Brother  Balch  as  ever  having  sought 
adulatory  honors.  His  reputation  was  a  matter  of 
greatest  worth,  but  always  came  to  him  by  merit, 
without  any  seeking  of  his  own.  He  never  went  after 
it,  and  was  singularly  chary  of  the  language  of  vague 
eulogy,  as  he  would  have  been  of  an  overweening 
effort  or  straining  for  applause. 

But  without  an  opinionated  self-confidence  he  was 
capable  of  knowing  what  the  actual  labors  of  his  life 
had  been.  We  have  from  his  pen  a  partial  summing 
up  of  his  work.  He  ventures  to  tell  some  things  he 
has  done  the  first  forty  years  of  his  ministry,  and 
shows  that  he  has  been  a  pretty  hard-working  and 
poorty-paid  preacher.  "I  have  preached,"  he  sa}Ts, 
"  7,149  sermons,  25  at  the  dedication  of  new  churches, 
19  at  ordinations,  and  215  at  public  bodies.  I  have  at- 
tended 1,372  funerals,  sometimes  as  many  as  ten  in  a 
single  week,  and  three  on  Sunday.  I  have  married 
1,25S  persons,  and  prepared  23  \oung  men,  in  a  poor 
way,  for  the  ministry.  Nor  have  my  labors  been  con- 
fined to  my  own  societies.  Xever  neglect i  ng  them, I  have 
traveled  abroad  into  other  fields  where  work  was 
needed  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  cause,  and  no  matter 


282  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

where  I  have  gone,  I  have  carried  the  same  broad, 
truth-loving  principles  of  Christianity.  I  have  traveled 
and  preached  from  Canada  to  North  Carolina,  from 
Cape  Cod  to  St.  Louis  and  Minneapolis,  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Alps,  and  on  the  desert  of  Arabia. 
Outside  of  the  ministry,  but  in  keeping  with  its  spirit 
and  intentions,  I  have  lectured  in  many  of  the  states, 
giving  11  Fourth  of  July  orations,  1,259  lectures,  be- 
sides agricultural  addresses,  temperance,  anti-capital 
punishment,  political,  war,  benevolent  and  other 
speeches  without  number.  I  have  traveled  twice  over 
Europe,  allowing  no  object  of  interest  to  escape  me, 
from  the  West  of  Ireland,  North  of  Scotland  and  Den- 
mark, to  Damascus  and  the  Cataract  of  the  Nile.  So 
far  as  I  have  kept  the  account,  outside  the  ordinary 
movements  about  home,  the  sum  is  over  150,000  miles. 
One  scarce  knows  what  he  has  done  till  he  counts  up 
the  sum.  I  have  found  and  proved  the  truth  of  the 
Scripture,  '  Life  is  full  of  labor.'  It  is  also  full  of  won- 
der. Without  its  doings  it  were  little  in  fact,  and  less 
in  worth. 

"  In  addition  to  what  is  here  narrated  I  have  done  no 
little  service  in  actual  work  for  the  denomination  and 
for  humanity,  devoting  much  time,  thought,  care  and 
labor  for  years  to  establish  our  theological  school  in 
Canton,  and  make  the  Christian  Ambassador,  of  New 
York,  a  denominational  paper.  For  twelve  years  I  was 
engrossed  in  its  management,  planning  and  carrying  it 
forward  to  a  sound  financial  basis,  which,  starting  only 
with  borrowed  capital,  redeemed  itself  in  eight  years 
and  paid  7  per  cent  on  the  investment." 

We  have  a  more  full  account  of  this  in  another  con- 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  283 

nection,  where  he  tells  us  that  ''finding  the  Ambassa- 
dor embarrassed  and  burdened  with  debt,  under  the 
fostering  care  of  a  devoted  brother  (Philo  Price),  and 
various  attempts  having  been  made  to  enlist  the  press 
in  its  defense  on  a  free,  broad  basis,  without  success, 
while  it  was  yet  struggling  for  life,  and  was  about  to 
be  transported  to  Boston,  that  good  brother,  O.  A. 
Skinner,  came  to  me  with  a  proposition  that  Ave  join 
hands  to  save  it.  After  some  hesitation  I  consented,  on 
the  condition  that  money  should  be  raised  to  pay  for 
it,  and  that  no  debt  should  be  incurred  to  carry  it  on, 
so  it  could  never  fail.  AVe  succeeded  far  beyond  our 
expectations.  It  sustained  itself  and  afforded  a  small 
revenue.  Brother  Skinner  removing  to  Boston,  Broth- 
ers Hallock  and  Lyon  became  partners  with  us,  and 
principal  managers.  Brother  Hallock  wearying  of  the 
burden  from  ill-health,  a  joint  stock  company  was 
formed  to  purchase  the  concern,  with  the  express  con- 
dition that  whenever  the  original  price  and  7  per  cent, 
interest  were  offered  the  shareholders  we  should  surren- 
der it  to  the  State  Convention.  In  eight  years  it  paid 
for  itself  and  went  into  the  hands  of  the  denomination, 
with  cash  and  subscriptions  due  amounting  to  over  $10- 
000.  It  had  bought  up  the  Magazine  and  Advocate,  a 
paper  in  Rochester,  another  in  Pennsylvania,  and  paid 
for  them." 

But  few  are  aware  how  much  he  did  in  this  w^ay,  in 
the  earlier  days  of  the  demonstration  ;  and  vet,  besides 
it  all,  he  says,  "  I  have  done  some  work  with  ray  pen 
in  religious,  secular,  and  literary  publications,  with  a 
view  to  the  defense  of  truth,  and  increase  of  knowl- 
edge, and  been   engaged   in  works  of  reform  and  phil- 


284  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

anthropy  all  my  life,  to  some  small  benefit,  I  trust,  to 
suffering  humanity.  My  old  friends  must  pardon  me 
this  egotism,  as  my  most  direct  way  of  stating  the 
truth.  I  am  growing  old,  and  I  have  a  right  to  be  a 
little  fogy  and  garrulous." 

This,  recollect,  in  1867;  but  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
twenty  years  later,  as  he  states  it  himself,  he  had  at- 
tended 2,671  funerals  and  solemnized  1,438  weddings, 
for  you  have  to  remember  that  he  is  speaking  of  the 
first  forty  years  of  his  ministry,  and  he  lived  to  do  act- 
ive service  for  a  large  part  of  twenty  years  after; 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  number  of  his  ser- 
mons and  lectures  alone  could  not  have  fallen  Tnuch 
short  of  10,000  or  12,000.  It  was  impossible  to  keep 
an  exact  account  of  all  these  in  the  later  3Tears  of  his 
life,  as  he  had  commenced  to  do  earlier;  for  he  would 
be  called  to  go  to  numberless  places,  here  and  there,  on 
excursions,  and  visiting  faiends,  and  would  be  expected 
frequently  to  lecture  and  preach  a  half  dozen  times, 
which  he  would  fail  to  note  at  the  instant,  and  then  on 
returning  home  the  number  had  been  borne  from  his 
mind,  and  so  he  abandoned  the  thought  of  keeping 
them,  for  w4iat  he  could  not  do  well  he  would  not  do 
at  all.  On  leaving  his  home  simply  to  spend  a  night, 
there  would  be  more  or  less  of  those  who  would  think 
that  they  ought  to  have  a  sermon  from  him.  Go 
where  he  would,  he  was  just  about  sure  to  get  into 
somebody's  pulpit  and  be  found  preaching  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  when  many  other  ministers 
would  receive  no  such  attention,  and  would  be  at  a  loss 
to  understand  how  it  eame  about.  There  was  no  way 
of  knowing,  only  as  he  had  come  to  have  such  a  wide 


EEV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  285 

reputation,  having  friends  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  they  all  eager  to  hear  him  preach,  or  to  listen  to 
one  of  his  inimitable  lectures. 

A  most  remarkable  circumstance  of  his  life,  was  his 
being  called  to  such,  distances  to  attend  funerals  and 
weddings,  the  former  especially,  to  the  Eastern,  Mid- 
dle and  Southern  States,  seven  times  over  300  miles, 
five  times  a  thousand,  and  once  1,700.  Nor  must  we 
forget  that  in  addition  to  all  this  arduous  labor,  besides 
his  books  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made, 
and,  not  to  mention  other  publications,  his  orations 
alone  are  full  twenty  in  number,  upon  such  subjects  as 
"Political  and  Social  Equality,"  "  Popular  Liberty  and 
Equal  Rights,"  "Individual  Freedom  the  Foundation 
of  Democratic  Government,"  "Romanism  and  Repub- 
licanism Incompatible"  (a  lecture  delivered  in  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle,  April  5,  1852,  in  Review  of  the 
Catholic  Chapter  in  the  History  of  the  United  States, 
as  written  by  the  Rev.  John  Hughes,  D.  D.,  Arch- 
bishop, of  New  York).  Besides  all  these  he  was  ex- 
pected to  find  time  to  give  everybody  a  portion  of  his 
society. 

We  have  his  declaration  as  follows: — 

"A  review  of  these  forty  years  has  proved  to  me 
that  such  labor  is  not  in  vain.  Go  where  I  will  I  am 
pretty  sure  to  meet  glad  hearts  who,  with  a  smile,  tell 
me  that  my  poor  persuasions  have  led  them  to  think, 
examine,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  believe  and 
rejoice  in  the  great  salvation.  This  is  my  abundant 
reward. 

"  In  all  these  years  God  has  not  forgotten  me,  but 
been  gracious  unto  me,  above  all  I  had  a  right  to 
expect.     Though  the  compensation  for  regular  preach- 

19         #• 


286  "  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

ing  has  never  supported  me  and  the  large  family  God 
has  given  me,  yet  1  have  had  enough  of  worldly  goods 
and  tokens  of  affection  to  make  me  grateful  to  my 
friends  ;  and  enough  of  strength  and  privilege  to  work 
outside,  and  earn  and  lay  by  for  future  needs,  without 
impairing  my  usefulness  or  wronging  any  man  in  name 
or  property.  I  have  sought  to  be  strict,  but  fair  and 
kind  in  all  my  intercourse  with  the  brethren,  keeping 
no  cloak  for  any  sin  short  of  repentence,  but  always 
ready  to  forgive  and  love. 

"  The  love  of  God,  as  revealed  by  Jesus  Christ,  has 
been  the  great  theme,  the  central  idea  around  which 
all  my  thoughts  and  purposes  have  revolved,  embracing 
all  truth  and  goodness,  and  encouraging  every  reform 
which  seeks  the  elevation  of  mankind  to  the  level  of  a 
common  brotherhood,  emancipating  from  all  evil,  and 
the  establishment  of  universal  holiness,  peace  and  hap- 
piness in  subjection  to  the  will  of  God. 

"  I  have  always  looked  to  One  as  my  Master,  and 
tried  to  teach  his  religion  of  love,  peace  and  salvation, 
free  for  all  men ;  I  have  sought  to  cherish  good  will 
towards  all  men,  and  to  do  good,  reprove  and  rebuke, 
where  it  seemed  needful,  with  all  long  suffering  and 
doctrine.  To  me  the  blessed  truth,  committed  in  some 
sort  to  our  keeping  and  defence,  is  more  precious  than 
ever  before.  I  have  seen  its  blessed  fruits  so  cften  and 
so  abundant  in  meeting  and  relieving  the  wants  of 
mankind,  that  it  pains  me  to  see  any  deviations  by 
following  the  rudiments  of  this  world,  to  gain  for  it 
popularity,  or  to  gratify  the  pride  of  human  hearts. 
There  is  something  so  sweet  and  beautiful,  so  com- 
forting and  joyous  in  the  meekness  and  simplicity  of 
Christianity,  that  the  adornments  of  pride  and  power  of 
man's  wisdom  does  but  mar  it,  bestowed  in  any  form, 
or  in  any  measure.  Let  us  "holdfast  the  profession  of 
our  faith  without  wavering." 

A  rare  commendation  may  be  claimed  for  him,  that 
he  did  not  seem  to  abate  his  activity  with  the  coming 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  287 

on  of  age,  as  so  many  do.  He  sought  to  keep  up  his 
acquaintance  with  passing  events  till  the  last,  and  was 
even  familiar  with  all  the  new  modes  of  modern  thought 
and  feeling  of  the  day.  He  kept  all  his  faculties  bright, 
and  was  read}'  to  respond  to  every  call,  so  far  as  he 
could,  to  the  last.  He  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  lie 
down  and  rust  out,  so  long  as  there  was  any  spark  of 
original  vitality  in  reserve  to  draw  upou.  There  were 
so  many  pressing  duties  lying  near  his  heart,  that  he 
might  be  said  to  live  for,  and  which  his  existence  was 
bound  up  in,  that  to  retire  from  activity  with  any  stock 
of  vitality  unexpended,  seemed  to  him  ungracious  and 
reprehensible.  His  wras  such  an  all-absorbing  purpose, 
that  it  was  with  sorrowful  regret  that  he  could  lay 
down  his  toil,  and  wait  his  mysterious  transit,  even 
while  he  must  have  known  that  the  larger  work  of  his 
life  was  done. 

It  may  be  said  that  such  was  the  generous  devotion 
with  which  Bro.  Balch  gave  himself  to  his  work  of 
whatever  character,  and  the  enthusiasm  he  would 
awaken  in  its  behalf,  eminently  adapting  him  to  arouse 
the  slumbering  energies  of  the  people,  that  important 
trusts  w^ere  ever  confided  to  his  care  and  management, 
and  he  was  always  found  fully  equal  to  the  demand 
that  was  imposed  upon  him. 

His  success  must  have  been  particularly  great  in  all 
general  matters  for  him  to  be  able  to  say,  "  I  never 
set  my  heart  on  doing  a  thing  without  accomplishing 
it,"  as  he  did  on  the  Wednesday  previous  to  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  following  Sunday.  And  in  view' 
of  this,  what  could  be  more  beautiful  than  a  congrat- 
ulatory telegram,  sent  to  his  home  in  Elgin  by  a  daugh- 


288  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

ter  then  living  in  Brattleboro,  Vt.,  received  and  read 
while  celebrating  the  75th  anniversary  of  his  birth,  a 
quotation  from  words  spoken  by  the  prophet  Hezekiah. 
"  In  every  work  he  begun  in  the  service  of  the  house 
of  God,  and  in  the  law,  and  in  the  comandments  to 
seek  his  God,  he  did  it  with  all  his  heart  and  prospered." 
If  he  entered  upon  a  thing  he  carried  it  out  to  the  end. 
Almost  to  the  same  effect  is  a  testimonial  from  the  pen 
of  Bro.  Francis.  "  I  recall  how  glad  I  was  when  I 
heard  that  Bro.  Balch  was  chosen  as  agent  in  raising 
the  funds  for  our  first  Theological  school,  for  I  said  to 
myself,  now  I  am  certain  of  its  successful  establishment, 
as  the  event  afterwards  proved." 

Perhaps  his  great  work  was  his  financial  achieve- 
ments in  the  part  he  contributed  to  found  and  endow 
St.  Lawrence  University.  Bro.  Atwood,  writing  to  the 
committee  for  the  getting  up  of  the  reception  given  to 
Bro.  Balch  in  1886,  says,  "We 'do  not  forget  that  he 
occupies  a  foremost  place  in  the  group  of  honored 
brethren  and  fathers  whose  foresight  and  industry  es- 
tablished the  Canton  Theological  School,  and  made 
possible  the  St.  Lawrence  University.  And  Dr.  Adams, 
in  his  "  Fifty  Notable  Years,"  tells  us  how  completely 
the  '*  business  capacity-  of  our  brother  was  evinced  in 
his  raising  funds  for  that  institution,  taking  charge  of 
the  location,  as  well  as  the  plan  and  rearing  of  the 
buildings,  and  selection  of  the  Principal  to  preside  over 
it."  He  moreover  gives  the  account  of  his  "afterwards 
completing  the  raising  of  a  large  fund  for  the  institu- 
tion, obtaining  also  $10,000  for  the  library  and  securing 
the  valuable  libraries  of  Dr.  Credner  and  Rev.  F.  C. 
Loveland." 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  289 

I  find  where  be  tells  us  about  this  himself;  bow  the 
work  was  started,  and  carried  forward  to  its  completion. 
He  says: 

"  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  do  much  work  for  the  school. 
The  thought  was  to  provide  the  means  for  the  bet- 
ter preparation  of  young  men  for  the  ministry  of  the 
great  salvation — not  to  build  a  sect  after  the  fashion  of 
the  churches,  or  to  cramp  the  mind  into  a  creed  or  form 
after  man's  construction,  to  make  a  part  appear  greater 
than  the  whole.  I  secured  the  title  to  the  land,  twenty 
acres,  that  students  might  present  their  bodies  a  'liv- 
ing sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable  unto  God,  a  reason- 
able service,'  according  to  the  terms  of  subscription  of 
Mr.  Greeley  and  others.  I  drew  the  plan  and  specific- 
ations of  the  building,  made  nine  journeys,  all  but  one 
without  expense,  to  see  that  all  was  done  right.  When 
completed,  on  the  recommendation  of  Hosea  Ballou 
Second.  I  procured  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Fisher  for  Principal." 

He  does  not  fail  to  remind  us  of  some  of  "  the  sad 
disadvantages  and  discouragements  under  which  he 
labored,  and  that  no  one  but  himself  and  his  God  ever 
knew  what  he  endured  when  so  few  of  his  brethren 
came  to  his  help.''  But  his  thought  was  to  "resolutely 
do  his  duty,  putting  in  all  his  strength  against  delays 
and  hindrances,  determined  that  the  enterprise  should 
carry  if  it  was  a  possible  thing."  The  offer  was  made 
to  him  of  ten  per  cent,  of  what  he  should  raise  for  a 
part  of  his  work,  if  he  would  but  assist  to  relieve  the 
institution  in  its  later  embarrassment,  but  as  he  had 
formerly  accepted  of  no  compensation,  and  only  a  part 
of  his  real  expenses,  deeming  it  wrong  to  make  mer- 
chandise of  work  in  such  a  cause ;  so  now  he  resolved 
to  enter  the  field   and   do  the  best  he  could,  agreeing 


290  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

upon  no  terms  of  payment,  only  receiving  for  all  his 
arduous  labors  and  trials  what  he  actually  paid  out, 
"  the  sum  of  304  or  403  dollars." 

Dr.  Lee,  of  the  University,  writes  the  committee  in- 
viting him  to  attend  the  reception  given  in  honor  of 
Brother  Balch  in  Chicago,  "  I  was  glad  to  hear  of  the 
reception,  and  to  receive  your  invitation  to  attend  it. 
I  am  profoundly  grateful  to  him,  for  he  did  more  than 
any  other  individual  to  establish,  and  permanently  en- 
dow our  Theoligical  School.  The  school,  during  its 
twenty-eight  years  of  life,  has  sent  out  hundreds  of 
ministers  well  equipped  for  their  work,  and  for  this  we 
are  largely  indebted  to  him,  and  I  wish,  through  you, 
to  present  to  him  our  grateful  acknowledgements." 

To  this  he  adds  in  a  later  communication  : 

"He  toiled  amid  opposition,  indifference  and  oblo- 
quy ;  but  succeeded  in  raising  money  sufficient  to  keep 
it  in  successful  operation  ;  and  with  the  assistance  of 
other  friends  of  the  school  laid  plans  for  securing  funds 
to  meet  its  future  necessities,  so  that  its  existence  and  use- 
fulness were  made  permanent ;  and  for  this  he  received 
the  hearty  thanks  of  Dr.  Fisher,  the  first  president  of 
the  school,  and  others,  professors  and  students,  who 
were  aware  of  his  labors  in  its  behalf,  and  the  sacri- 
fices which  he  made  to  sustain  it.  It  may  safely  be 
said  that  had  it  not  been  for  William  S.  Balch,  this 
Theological  school  would  not  now  be  in  existence." 

He  continues  : 

"In  June,  1884,  Dr.  Balch  and  Mr.  F.  C.  Have- 
meyer,  who  constituted  the  committee  that  located  the 
school  nearly  thirty  years  before,  were  present  at  the 
annual  exercises,  and  took  an  active  interest  in  the  ded- 
ication of  Fisher  Memorial  Hall,  which  transpired 
June  28,  1883.  Mr.  Balch  was  then  seventy-seven 
years  old,    but  spoke  feelingly  and  eloquently,  with  all 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  291 

the  animation  and  enthusiasm  of  his  youthful  days, 
concerning  the  early  history  of  the  institution,  its  pro- 
gress, its  influence  and  present  needs." 

My  heart  has  impelled  me  to  say  more  at  this  point 
than  I  otherwise  would  have  done,  as  there  are  those  to 
feel  that  full  justice  had  never  been  done  Mr.  Balch  in 
this  regard. 

Such,  then,  was  the  varied  working  talent  of  our 
Brother.  But  few  men  in  any  generation  have  per- 
formed a  greater  number  of  useful  labors,  or  won  the 
sincere  regard  of  more  hearts  than  he.  And  still,  Avhat 
I  have  chronicled  gives  but  a  feeble  view  of  his  wonder- 
ful fertility  of  conception,  and  the  manifold  incidents 
of  his  busy  life,  or  of  the  great  variety  and  amount  of 
his  achievements  and  productions.  All  will  have  to 
agree  in  this,  that  his  life  has  been  one  of  great  faith- 
fulness; that  he  has  emphatically  lived  to  the  end  of 
serving  humanity  as  best  he  could;  and  that  he  has  only 
left  the  world  for  his  works  to  praise  him,  and  his  conduct 
to  define  his  character.  He  has  gained  a  reputation  for 
practical  wisdom,  genuine  goodness  and  helpfulness  in 
every  varied  field  of  human  effort  which  the  proudest  of 
his  kind  might  well  envy. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

DISINTERESTEDNESS    OF    CHARACTER. 

Mr.  Balch  was  of  a  most  unselfish  spirit,  always 
sacrificing  for  others,  and  endeavoring  to  do  some- 
thing to  make  them  comfortable  and  happy.  His 
thoughts  were  for  others  first,  and  for  himself  after- 
ward, if  at  all.  Even  when  doing  for  himself  he  did 
for  others.  Unlike  too  many  who  husband  their  gains 
to  have  a  goodly  sum  to  bequeath  at  their  death,  he 
gave  liberally  while  he  lived,  and  as  calls  came  for  him 
to  be  helpful,  desiring  to  be  his  own  executor,  and  en- 
joy the  pleasure  of  dispensing  his  gifts  with  his  own 
free,  open  hand.  We  need  not  complain  of  others,  es- 
pecially when  so  many  do  even  in  this  way  acknowl- 
edge God's  claim  upon  a  portion  of  their  abundance 
with  which  He  has  blessed  them,  but  the  subject  of  this 
notice  has  gone  through  the  world  with  the  true  heart 
of  giving,  himself  his  own  best  sacrifice,  "  not  letting 
his  left  hand  know  what  his  right  hand  did,"  sacrific- 
ing without  a  regret  promising  opportunities  of  gain; 
succeeding  as  but  few  have  ever  succeeded;  asking  no 
favors  that  he  did  not  merit,  and  yet  distributing  them 
all  about  him  on  every  side.  By  careful  economy,  and 
exemplary  self  denial,  he  regularly  spared  a  generous 
portion  of  his  income,  and  returned  it  as  a  free-will  off- 
ering to  the  cause  which  he  served,  and 

"  So  lived  not  for  himself  alone, 

Nor  joined  the  selfish  few, 
But  prized  much  more  than  all  things  else 

The  good  that  he  could  do." 
2<>2 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  293 

His  was  the  unselfish  success  of  an  untiring  life,  and 
shows  how  much  a  devout,  earnest  and  self-forgetting 
person  by  his  own  energies,  unaided  except  from  above, 
consecrated  to  one  great  object,  can  accomplish.  He 
has  left  a  priceless  memory  as  benefactor,  friend  and 
brother;  toiling  for  the  ignorant,  the  neglected,  the 
destitute,  the  old  in  error  and  sin,  and  the  young  in  in- 
nocence and  peril.  To  make  others  happier,  and  the 
world  better,  seemed  to  be  the  desire  most  prominent 
with  him.  As  a  man,  a  minister,  a  reformer,  an  en- 
thusiastic traveler  in  foreign  lands ;  as  a  true  patriot, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  he  has  found  it  his  delight  to 
do  what  he  could.  For  nothing  was  he  distinguished 
more  than  for  his  strong  and  deep  sympathy  for  the 
weak  and  tempted,  the  sorrowful  and  oppressed  of  his 
fellows;  so  that  he  never  shrunk  from  espousing  their 
cause.  We  shall  never  half  know  of  the  blessings  he 
has  dispensed  in  this  direction,  so  diligent  was  he  in 
seeking  out  and  relieving  want  and  distress  on  the  part 
of  those  who  with  slender  resources  were  overtaken 
by  illness  or  misfortune.  So  unstintedly  generous  was 
he  in  ministering  to  their  necessities,  and  the  delicacy 
with  which  he  rendered  his  aid,  that  it  were  in  vain  the 
attempt  at  doing  him  justice  in  this  regard  ;  and  I  am 
aware  that  I  must  fail  in  the  presentation  of  this  por- 
tion of  his  life.  It  is  evident  that  he  valued  wealth 
chiefly  for  its  humane  and  Christian  uses.  He  was  ac- 
customed to  complain  that  women  were  so  generally 
underpaid,  and  would  often  give  them  more  than  they 
asked.  He  was  not  the  person  to  ever  bid  down  on 
prices ;  nor,  like  thousands  of  others,  could  he  be  in- 
duced to  think  that  he  had  achieved  a  triumph  when 


294  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

he  made  for  himself  as  purchaser,  some  paltry  gain  to 
the  loss  and  discomfort  of  the  seller.  He  would  sooner 
return  and  pay  extra  for  what  he  thought  had  been 
sold  to  him  too  cheaply. 

And  it  was  in  his  preaching  as  in  everything  else. 
He  would  go  at  every  call  of  his  brethren,  ready  to 
spend  and  be  spent,  regarding  it  as  a  blessed  thing  if 
he  was  but  invited  to  continue  his  going.  The  com- 
pensation of  his  services  was  frequently  in  his  being 
able  to  obtain  an  audience  who  were  willing  to  listen 
to  his  messages,  and  that  he  could  thus  assist  to  plant 
the  religion  which  was  the  salvation,  and  glory,  and 
blessedness  of  the  world.  The  period  had  been  when 
he  was  very  grateful,  as  he  tells  us,  at  beholding  an 
occasional  new  face  among  his  hearers.  And  it  was  in 
answering  some  such  appeals  of  a  disinterested  charac- 
ter that  he  frequently  brought  harm  to  himself,  for 
though  he  would  be  told  that  his  health  was  of  first 
importance,  and  that  he  was  unable  to  leave  home,  to 
attend  upon  his  preaching,  his  reply  would  be  that  he 
"  had  been  sent  for,  and  he  must  go."  He  was  of  the 
number  who  always  found  his  greatest  pleasure  in 
obliging  his  friends,  and  his  spirit  of  accommodation 
was  evinced  in  his  willingness  to  serve  them  at  what- 
ever hazard. 

It  was  a  fixed  principle  with  him  through  life  to 
regard  the  raising  of  money  a  secondary  matter,  and 
to  make  it  his  first  concern  to  spread  information,  and 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  steady  support  of  all  good 
causes  by  awakening  an  intelligent  understanding  of 
the  demands  of  Christianity,  and  giving  permanency 
and  system  to  the  benevolent  impulses  ot   our  natures. 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  295 

He  did  not  believe  in  any  mere  fiscal,  or  monetary  or- 
ganization, or  a  gathering  of  the  people  where  every 
agitator  went  to  quarrel  for  his  peculiar  resolutions ; 
but  where  Christian  brethren  met  to  minsrle  in  holv 
sympathies,  and  through  the  presence  and  anointing 
of  the  spirit  of  God  and  his  Christ,  their  hearts  were 
to  be  renewed,  and  larger  effort  was  to  be  made  to 
give  vitality  to  men's  professions,  and  unconquerable 
energy  to  their  efforts  for  enlarging,  and  building  up, 
and  strengthening  the  enclosures  of  the  Masters  fold. 
In  this  way  would  the  money  flow  freely  into  the 
treasury  of  the  Lord,  through  the  quickening  of  the 
religious  life,  and  every  rich  blessing  accrue  to  the 
worshiper,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

A  peculiarity  of  Brother  Balch  was,  that  he  never 
came  to  believe  in  large  salaries  for  ministers,  never  set 
a  price  on  his  preaching,  to  say  that  he  must  have  any 
certain  amount  or  sum  of  money  to  go  anywhere  to 
labor  in  the  vineyard  of  his  Master.  He  never  made  it 
a  matter  of  agreement  to  be  paid  for  a  funeral  or  a 
wedding  service,  or  the  delivery  of  a  temperance  or 
other  lecture  of  a  moral  or  religious  character.  He  felt 
himself  a  debtor  to  the  cause,  to  supply  the  spiritual 
wants  of  the  people,  and  they  in  supply  of  his  temporal 
wants  have  given  him  what  they  felt  they  could,  or 
were  pleased  to  do.  Finding  an  opening  outside  of  his 
parish,  he  has  tried  to  occupy  it,  sowing  the  seeds  of 
truth  irrespective  of  being  paid  for  it ;  and  I  doubt  not 
that  there  have  been  some  whole  years  in  which  he 
has  preached  more  sermons,  receiving  nothing  for  them, 
than  there  are  Sundays  or  weeks  in  a  year.  When  he 
was  leaving  Providence  in  1841  to  go  to  New  York  City, 


296  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

they  thought  at  first  to  give  him  $1,200  a  year,  but 
then  it  was  said  he  could  not  live  on  it,  and  they  made 
it  $1,500. 

Brother  Balch  writes  to  an  old  friend  in  New  York 
City,  after  preaching  forty-five  years  : 

"  My  pay  is  not  great,  nor  very  prompt,  but  I  live 
and  do  not  suffer.  We  have  not  all  we  could  wish ; 
Who  has?  We  have  enough  to  make  us  grateful,  and 
keep  us  humble.     What  more  could  we  have  ? " 

I  have  found  the  man  who  paid  Brother  Balch  the 
first  money  he  ever  received  for  preaching.  He  says 
his  "  father  invited  him  to  come  and  preach  a  sermon  in 
their  school-house,  which  he  did,  and  he  was  after- 
wards made  the  bearer  of  the  only  compensation  made 
for  his  services,  and  the  amount  was  just  four  dollars." 
Brother  Balch  tells  us  of  his  first  experience  in  going 
to  a  place  after  his  ordination.  He  says,  "  After  ser- 
vice many  crowded  around  to  be  introduced,  and  to 
urge  me  to  stop  and  preach  there.  Some  even  went 
so  far  as  to  ask  me  what  I  should  charge.  This  as- 
tonished me,  for  1  had  been  brought  up  where  the  min- 
ister pretended  that  it  was  wicked  to  have  a  fixed 
salary,  to  be  a  hireling.  And  then  on  Sunday  to  make 
such  a  proposition  —  bargain  about  preaching?  But 
we  get  hardened  by  long  and  familiar  experience  to 
many  things,  at  first  strange." 

He  is  particularly  severe  on  those  young  men  who 
enter  the  ministry  because  they  discover  no  easier  road 
open  to  them.  "  With  little  knowledge  of  men,"  he 
tells  us,  "  and  the  trials  and  struggles  of  active  life, 
they  enter  our  schools  and  live  on  gratuities,  with  no 
care   but  to  spend,  careless  of  the  very  means  which 


KEY.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    HALCH.  297 

are  to  fit  them  for  the  positions  of  after  life.  They 
have  never  learned  the  Scripture,  'It  is  good  for  a  man 
to  bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth."5  He  regrets  that 
preaching  is  so  worldly  in  our  times,  and  says: 

"My  advice  to  young  men  looking  towards  the  min- 
istry is:  1.  Examine  yourself;  see  that  your  heart  is 
full  of  love  to  God  and  man  ;  that  you  are  impressed 
with  a  deep  conviction  that  you  can  do  most  good  by 
preaching  the  Gospel ;  that  you  have  an  '  aptness  to 
teach,'  and  are  willing  to  make  sacrifices  to  fit  yourself 
for  such  a  work,  and  to  take  the  position  wherein  you 
can  be  most  useful.  Do  not  think  of  yourself,  of  ease 
or  honor,  but  of  God  and  duty.  Make  it  a  serious, 
solemn  matter  of  high  moral  consideration,  a  thing  not 
to  be  trifled  with.  Don't  rely  on  the  charity' of  others. 
It  will  take  the  life,  the  spirit,  the  manhood  out  of 
you.  Be  self-reliant  on  God  and  his  promised  grace, 
that  you  may  stand  square  up  with  your  fellow  men 
and  avoid  the  conscious  degradation  of  eating  others' 
bread.  If  you  have  not  the  means  at  your  command, 
nor  the  confidence  of  immediate  success  to  aid  you,  do 
as  our  most  successful  men  have  done;  go  to  work  and 
earn  the  means,  and  not  feel  crushed  and  benumbed  in 
conscience. 

k*  You  need  to  develop  a  character  that  will  fit  you 
for  all  hard  work  ;  a  self-denial  and  consecration  that 
will  take  you  out  of  self,  and  swallow  you  up  in  a 
grand  purpose  of  serving  others.  You  need  not  ask 
Societies  what  they  are  going  to  give  their  preachers  ( 
Probably  nothing  to  mere  adventurers,  who  are  selfish 
enough  to  propound  such  a  question.  §hame  on  such 
a  spirit,  wherever  it  is  found.  Go  into  the  vineyard 
and  work;  no  matter  about  the  hour,  or  the  penny. 
The  Lord  of  the  harvest  will  do  right.  Don't  lust 
after  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt,  but  follow  the  example 
of  the  early  Christians,  early  Fniversalists,  early 
Methodists,  the  early  and  faithful  of    all  good  causes. 


298  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

"  Several  of  our  early  preachers  were  shoemakers, 
some  clothiers,  more  farmers  and  teachers  ;  none  poor 
dependents  on  charity.  Those  who  borrowed  were 
less  successful — they  were  few. 

"  In  Canton  there  is  land  enough,  properly  tilled,to 
feed  the  theoligical  students,  and  a  portion  of  the  funds 
were  given  on  the  express  condition  that  students 
should  be  required  to  labor  two  hours  a  day.  Who 
has  done  it,  except  at  croquet  and  base-ball  ?  Horace 
Greeley  started  that  idea,  and  the  committee  provided 
the  means  to  carry  it  out,  with  every  arrangement  for 
convenience  and  fair  comfort — not  too  much  self-de- 
nial— quite  equal  to  early  Christians  and  students  in 
former  years.  It  is  not  good  for  students  of  the  gos- 
pel to  live  in  luxury,  and  get  ready  to  marry  before 
earning  an  honest 'living.  If  such  institutions  are 
thought  too  severe  for  a  gospel  minister,  he  had  better 
seek  some  other  vocation  where  he  will  be  less  likely 
to  suffer  disappointment. 

"  One  thing  more  :  The  close-closeted  student  who 
has  devoted  his  whole  thought  to  theories  and  methods, 
ancient  and  modern,  and  neglected  to  study  men  and 
manners,  the  ways  and  means  of  daily  life,  is  poorly 
fitted  to  mix  and  mingle  as  a  preacher  should  with  peo- 
ple in  all  conditions,  poor  as  well  as  rich,  ignorant  as 
well  as  wise,  good,  bad  and  indifferent — with  humani- 
ty as  he  finds  it,  and  feel  sympathy  and  interest  in  all, 
ready  to  serve  them  as  they  need  by  leading  them  in 
the  way  of  salvation,  reproving,  admonishing,  encour- 
aging as  they  need.  The  people  demand  more  than 
fine  essays  on  nonsense,  sound  logic  on  dogmas,  exact 
descriptions  of  old  errors,  corruptions  and  superstitions, 
the  sins  of  Babylon,  and  idolatry  in  Egypt.  Ours  is  a 
practical  age,  and  the  world  needs  practical  Christian- 
ity, practically  taught  and  correctly  exemplified,  by 
living,  plain,  practical  preachers  who  shall  be  '  ensain- 
ples  in  all  things?  The  true  preacher  seeks  to  edify 
the  church,  convert  sinners,  comfort  the  afflicted  and 
help  save  the  world." 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  299 

He  is  telling  what  kind  of  preachers  the  West  is 
needing,  and  says : 

"  The  West  needs  live  preachers  whose  sonls  are  in  the 
work,  who  are  fitted  to  preach  the  gospel  intelligently, 
practically,  forcibly,  and  to  adorn  it  by  well-ordered 
lives  and  a  godly  conversation ;  who  are  willing  to  sow 
before  they  reap,  to  spend  and  be  spent,  without  wor- 
rying their  souls  about  to-morrow,  and  pining  into 
worthlessness  because  they  cannot  get  as  large  a  sal- 
ary as  somebody  else  who  can  preach  no  better  than 
they  think  they  can.  Let  them  learn  humility  and  re- 
solve in  earnest  to  be  prepared  unto  every  good  word 
and  work,  to  enter  any  door  that  opens  into  the  field 
of  labor,  to  hunt  the  lost  sheep  until  they  find  it.  They 
shall  not  fail  of  a  full  reward,  for  God  is  just, 
and  gracious  too.  They  must  deserve  before  they  can 
expect  to  have.  An  hundred  gates  stand  wide  open, 
and  thousands  of  anxious  souls  await  the  coming  of 
such  preachers  of  the  Everlasting  Gospel.  Let  preach- 
ers come  west  as  early  emigrants  came,  resolved  to 
work  and  wait,  as  young  preachers  did  in  years  gone 
by,  and  they  need  not  hunt  long  before  they  will  hear 
of  scattered  believers  everywhere  who  desire  to  be 
gathered  into  the  true  fold.  The  fields  are  already 
white  with  the  harvest.  Many  are  seeking  homes  in 
other  flocks,  and  not  a  few  preachers  of  other  names  are 
leading  them  in  pastures  much  greener,  and  to  waters 
more  calm  than  could  be  found  a  few  years  ago.  There 
never  was  a  more  accepted  time,  or  the  Macedonian 
cry  more  plainly  and  oftener  heard,  than  to-day,  and  in 
the  West.  '  Tramps  are  not  wanted — men  always  seek- 
ing- work  but  never  working.  Men  apt  to  teach,  not  by 
fine  essays  and  pretty  sermons  in  stilted  phrases,  but 
plain,  practical,  humble,  honest,  earnest,  true  men.  who 
love  the  truth  and  their  fellowmen  more  than  filthy 
lucre,  and  the  praise  of  God  more  than  the  pride  and 
flattery  of  the  world.  Such,  and  such  only,  can  long 
endure  the  climate  of  the  West." 


300  THE    LIFE    AXD    LABORS    OF 

He  is  discussing  different  sorts  of  ministers,  and 
among  them  the  "right  sort,"  and  makes  the  inquiry, 
"  What  sort  is  that  ?"  and  the  answer  is  : 

"Not  the  lazy,  fashionable,  fustian  young  men,  who 
wear  patent-leather  boots,  and  dare  not  step  off  a 
flagged  sidewalk  for  fear  of  soiling  them.  Not  the 
would-be  literary  men  who  have  read  all  the  fashion- 
able novels  and  dream-books  in  print  to  make  them- 
selves acquainted  with  fine  words,  and  beautiful  tropes 
and  sentences,  to  the  neglect  of  everything  like  sub- 
stantial knowledge,  good  common  sense,  and  a  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  old  Bible.  Not  the  proud  and 
ambitious  men,  who,  because  they  cannot  obtain  a 
large,  wealthy  and  liberal  Society,  and  a  large  salary, 
will  turn  off,  or  turn  back  from  the  work  of  the  minis- 
try or  abandon  it  altogether,  to  run  into  every  new- 
fangled follv  that  knocks  at  the  door  of  their  credulity 
and  love  of  notoriety. 

"  I  had  almost  forgotten  the  object  of  this  epistle, 
which  is  to  inquire  of  the  brethren,  what  means  can  be 
emplo}red  to  re-awaken  a  new  and  growing  interest  in 
our  cause,  and  call  into  the  field  of  public  labor  a  class 
of  young  men  who  would  give  themselves  to  the  work 
of  the  ministr\r  —  men  who  will  study  the  Master,  learn 
his  doctrine,  and  follow  his  examples ;  men  who  will 
devote  their  energies  to  the  establishment  of  the  truth 
—  Gospel  truth  —  and  will  not  abandon  the  work  be- 
cause they  cannot  be  indulged  in  every  whim  that  may 
take  them,  and  gratify  their  vanity  by  a  peacock  dis- 
play of  their  own  diminutive  capacities. 

"  We  very  much  need — never  more — a  large  number 
of  devoted  young  men  of  honest  purpose,  humble  spir- 
it, and  fair  talents  —  no  matter  how  great  —  who  will 
come  into  the  vast  field  of  labor,  already  ripe  to  the 
harvest,  and  work.  Never  were  there  such  inducements 
as  now  exist. 

"  Why  do  they  not  come  forth  to  our  help?     Why  do 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  301 

so  many  delay?  lean  think  of  bul  two  reasons:  the 
defection  of  those  who  have  been  with  us.  ;uul  the — 
what  shall  I  call  it? — indolence?  pride?  ambition? — 1 
have  no  precise  word  at  command.  I  mean  those  who 
blow  up  here,  and  hurst  up  there,  or  run  down  in  some 
other  place, — simply  because  they  ran  up  too  fast  and 
too  high, — who  are  grumbling  about  the  ingratitude, 
want  of  zeal,  sting-iness  of  Societies,  moving  here  and 
moving  there,  to  find  a  people  willing  to  praise  their 
poor  old  sermons,  instead  of  studying  new  and  more 
interesting  pnes.  I  have  no  patience  with  these  cler- 
ical loafers — minister  vagabonds — who  go  about  killing 
Societies  by  their  inattention  to  the  real  duties  of  their 
vocation,  as  faithful  ministers  of  the  New  Testament — 
and  then  try  to  shirk  a  merited  condemnation  by  find- 
ing fault  with  Societies. 

"  With  such  a  country  as  ours,  and  in  such  an  age  as 
this,  there  is  no  need  of  this  state  of  things.  There  is 
not,  and  never  was — I  trust  there  never  will  be — any 
occasion,  any  justification,  for  a  good,  capable,  faithful 
preacher  of  Universalism,  to  be  idle,  out  of  employ — 
to  sink  into  the  cities  to  beg  their  way  through  life. — 
There  are  hundreds  of  places  to-day  where  men,  duly 
qualified,  could  find  abundant  encouragement,  to  sus- 
tain themselves  and  families.  Yes,  a  thousand,  more 
desirable  than  those  into  which  most  of  our  preachers, 
twenty  years  ago,  entered  when  they  commenced  their 
missions.  Xew  England  and  New  York  could  support 
twice  as  many  as  the}7  have, — the  Western  States  four 
times, — and  the  Southern  States  ten  times  as  many. 
All  that  is  wanting  is  men  of  the  right  stamp.  For 
want  of  them  our  cause  languishes.  '  Pray  the  Lord  to 
send  more  laborers  into  the  field.' r' 

He  declares  that "  clergymen  are  solemnly  ordained 

to  a  specific  work.     Thereafter  they  have  vowed  unto 

God  to  live  and  work  for  the  ministry ;  to   persuade 

men  unto  holiness  ;  to  comfort  those  in  affliction,  and 

20 


O'.'l!  ."•".   WILLIAM    STEVEN?    BALCH. 

_  5  ntnnity.      Whenever  any 

worldly  object  or  intei    si  een  them  and  the 

is   of  their  vocation,  they  act   unworthily,  and  on 

gi    and  of  fairness  can  they  pretend  to  belong 

to  the  mill  sta         Be  who  becomes  worldly,  and  pre- 

isiness,  honor,  pleasure,  to  that  of  godliness,  de- 

i  his  standing." 


CHAPTER    XV. 

SICKNESS,    DEATH    AND    BURIAL. 

Brother  Balch  naturally  had  a  hardy  constitution, 
and  was  descended  from  a  family  of  more  than  ordin- 
ary length  of  life.  And  yet  most  of  the  early  years 
of  his  ministry  were  darkened  by  a  terrible  struggle 
with  painful  disease,  induced  by  over-study  and  unac- 
quaintance  of  the  laws  of  health,  to  be  borne  with 
most  marked  submission ;  and  his  preaching  dur- 
ing all  this  time  was  kept  beautifully  radiant  with  the 
hopes  and  joys  of  the  Gospel.  I  remember  him  in 
some  of  those  years  in  which  he  calls  himself  "a  poor, 
nervous,  shadowy  dyspeptic,  and  a  wonder  to  himself, 
till  he  learned  to  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it,  and 
then  doing  as  well  as  knowing,  despite  fashions,  luxur- 
ies and  habits/'  His  disease  would  frequently  come 
upon  him  with  great  violence,  and  he  would  suffer  for 
weeks  beyond  description. 

I  find  in  a  published  sermon  of  his,  "  Forty  Years 
in  the  Ministry,"  in  which  he  says  : 

"  For  the  first  twenty  years  of  my  ministry,  I  suf- 
fered much  from  disease,  induced  by  ignorance  of  God's 
holy  law  written  all  over  and  through  my  being.  Over- 
taxing the  brain,  restraining  the  body  by  sedentary 
habits,  regardless  of  diet,  and  abusing  a  naturally 
strong  constitution,  I  passed  through  all  the  horrors  of 
a  miserable  dyspeptic,  made  worse  by  medical  igno- 
rance prevailing  at  the  time   in   such   cases.       During 

303 


304  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

those  twenty  years  I  scarce  knew  a  comfortable 
night's  rest,  or  a  decent  meal.  How  I  lived  I  know 
not.  Nothing  but  sovereign  grace  preserved  me  from 
all  the  nostrums,  regular  and  irregular,  blisters  and 
bran-breacl,  calomel,  cayenne,  and  cold  water.  But 
somehow  I  did  live  through  it  all,  and,  for  twenty 
years,  by  a  fair  and  strict  regard  to  the  laws  of  my  be- 
ing, I  have  enjoyed  very  excellent  health.  During  this 
time,  many  friends  and  brethren,  who,  in  their  robust 
health,  pitied  me  in  my  sufferings,  have  gone  over  the 
river  before  me.  I  am  to-day  in  as  good  health  as  at 
any  period  of  my  life  —  could  not  ask  for  better." 

Indeed,  for  nearly  twenty  years  after  the  time  here 
noted  (1867),  he  claimed  that  his  health  was  nearly  per- 
fect, and  he  capable  of  endurance  almost  as  in  his 
youth,  except  as  at  times  he  would  greatly  suffer  from 
his  long-standing,  chronic  affliction,  which  toward  the 
last  became  severely  telling  upon  him,  and  as  he  went 
from  home  to  different  places  to  fill  appointments, 
gave  to  all  sad  premonitions  of  his  approaching  de- 
parture, and  added  to  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion 
and  the  force  of  the  words  to  which  he  gave  utter- 
ance. 

His  last  sickness,  which  brought  him  to  his  death, 
was  not  very  protracted.  When  the  physician  who 
attended  him  was  first  called  to  see  him,  he  felt  con- 
fident that  his  chances  to  recover  were  indeed  very 
slight.  But  at  the  end  of  a  week  there  had  been  what 
seemed  a  somewhat  favorable  change,  that  made  him 
conjecture  that  possibly  after  all  he  might  rally  for 
a  brief  space  of  time.  Thisj  howrever,  Brother  Balch 
did  not  think.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that  he  knew 
himself  better.   He  felt  almost  from  the  moment  he  was 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  305 

compelled  to  take  his  bed,  that  it  was  his  last  illness, 
and  that  he  never  would  rise  from  it  a  well  man.  And 
it  thus  proved  that  the  symptoms  were  disappointing, 
for  he  commenced  almost  immediately  from  that  hour 
to  fail,  and  in  two  or  three  days  he  was  entirely  given 
up  by  all  the  household  friends,  after  which  he  sank 
very  rapidly,  so  that  his  death  seemed  sudden  at  last. 
It  was  best  that  it  should  be  so,  for  he  had  greatly 
feared  from  the  complicated  nature  of  his  disease 
that  he  would  have  to  experience  a  lingering,  painful 
illness,  till  he  should  pray  to  be  relieved  from  intoler- 
able suffering. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Brother  Eeed  of  Rock- 
ford  and  myself,  were  called  to  his  bedside,  only  four 
days  previous  to  his  death,  that  he  might  counsel  with 
us  and  make  known  his  wishes  respecting  his  funeral 
obsequies,  and  other  matters,  as  they  were  agitating  his 
mind ;  and  it  was  no  common  satisfaction  to  listen  to 
his  talk,  his  mind  so  unclouded  and  vigorous,  that  he 
seemed  helped  by  the  All-helpful  One.  While  his  voice 
was  feeble  his  intellect  was  in  nothing  dimmed,  and  he 
went  on  relating  with  wonderful  minuteness  the  cir- 
cumstances to  which  he  would  direct  our  attention. 

In  these  last  solemn  moments  of  his  life,  when  he 
was  getting  ready  to  bid  adieu  to  all  its  joys  and  sor- 
rows, its  hopes  and  its  fears,  it  was  most  refreshing  to 
find  him  so  tranquil  and  composed,  as  one  who  lays 
himself  down  to  a  peaceful  sleep  after  the  toils  of  a 
wearisome  day  ;  holding  himself  as  cheerful  through 
all  the  long  hours  we  conversed  witli  him,  as  in  his  more 
hale  and  halcyon  days,  showing  that  he  could  calmly 
practice  the  submission  he  had  so  long  preached  as  a 


306  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

Christian  duty.  Brother  Reed,  in  referring  to  this  on 
the  day  of  his  burial,  said:  "His  intellect  was  as 
vigorous,  his  memory  as  vivid  and  minute,  his  smile  as 
genial,  and  his  sensitiveness  as  keen  as  at  any  previous 
moment  of  his  life."  And  why  should  not  this  be  so, 
the  contemplation  of  his  going  as  peaceful  as  the 
bosom  of  a  summer  sea ;  for  was  he  not  resting  in  the 
joy  of  a  constant  faith  and  holy  hope  that  all  lost  ones 
from  earth  were  to  be  gathered  to  the  higher  and  bet- 
ter home,  and  a  ransomed  universe  to  be  blest  with  the 
fulness  of  God's  illimitable  and  unchangeable  love  ?  He 
had  a  faith  that  saw  the  future  clear,  and  everything 
beyond  this  dim  earth  seemed  to  him  bright  and  beau- 
tiful. What  other  possibility  was  there  for  him,  now 
that  he  was  hastening  to  that  beautiful  shore  to  which 
he  had  pointed  so  many  dear  ones  that  had  gone  before. 
Was  it  not  the  only  approriate  thing  for  him,  that  he 
should  now  be  wishing  to  die,  for  could  he  not  say,  "  I 
am  weary,  let  me  go ;  lay  me  low,  my  work  is  done  "  % 

It  so  happened  that  his  last  hours  were  painless,  for 
he  fell  into  an  insensible  condition  on  Christmas  day 
and  remained  unconscious  from  the  early  hours  of 
morning  till  the  time  of  his  death,,  rousing  from  it  but 
once,  and  then  only  to  ask  if  the  day  was  breaking. 
Upon  receiving  the  reply  he  remained  silent  after  it. 

And  so  death  took  him;  transferring  him  from  his 
sufferings  here  on  the  earth  to  his  rest  and  joy  in  the 
great  hereafter.  And  it  was  a  grand  ending  of  a  grand 
life;  to  pass  away  from  earth  on  Christmas  day,  the 
birthday  of  the  world's  Redeemer ;  our  second  birthday 
into  the  realms  of  glory  ;  the  birthday  of  love  and 
peace,  and  joy  and  hope,  deeper  than  all  the  fountains 


BEY.  WILLIAM    8TBTEN8    BALCH.  307 

of  human  misery  shall  ever  quench.  And  we  yield  him 
to  a  tenderer  care  than  the  homes  of  earth  could  afford 
him.      He  has  put  on  a  new  garniture  of  grace  and 

glory,  and  has  gone  forward  into  other  scenes,  and  a 
grander  discipline,  connecting  these  years  of  our  earthly 
pilgrimage  with  the  years  of  eternity. 

And  shall  we  not  give  joyous  assent  to  the  breath- 
ings of  the  beautiful  hymn  which  says, 

"  Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave,  but  we  will  not  deplore  thee, 
Since  God  was  thy  refuge,  thy  guardian,  thy  guide: 
He  gave  thee,  He  took  thee,  and  He  will  restore  thee, 
And  death  hath  no  sting  since  the  Saviour  hath  died." 

We  can  but  appreciate  how  changed  are  all  the  af- 
fairs of  her  who  stood  closest  to  him,  and  other  changes 
to  follow,  she  cannot  know  how  many,  nor  when,  nor 
what;  yet  she  will  find  much  consolation  in  the  reflec- 
tion, that 

"As  a  bird  to  its  nest, 
When  the  storm  is  abroad, 
He  has  gone  to  his  rest 
In  the  bosom  of  God." 

She  could  not  but  let  'him  go  from  so  much  of  in- 
firmity, and  sickness,  and  pain,  and  did  so  with  the 
feeling,  that 

The  saddest  of  all  was  the  sad  refrain, 
That  she  never  would  look  on  his  like  again 

*********** 

Our  brother  had   no  fear  of  death,   which   was  to 

dismiss  him  into  some  new  and    higher  development. 

He  dreaded  a  helpless  life  much  more.     It  was  to  him  a 

glorious  thing  to  pass  away  from  earth,  and  go  at  the 

Heavenly  Father's  call  to  be  with  those  who  preceded 

him  in  the  celestial  mansions.     His  was  the  faith  that 

assured  him  that  death   was  a  step   forward  in  that  life 


308  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

which,  knows  no  cessation;  a  doorway  through  which  we 
pass  as  we  go  onward  and  upward  forever.  It  was 
through  death  that  he  was  expecting  to  cast  off,  or  lay 
down  his  weakness,  his  infirmities  and  diseases,  that 
he  himself  might  rise  up  to  another  and  more  glorious 
life.  He  felt  that  he  was  to  cease  in  all  that  is  frail  and 
decaying;  cease  to  be  human  (if  so)  that  he  might  ad- 
vance to  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  the  angel  throng. 

He  always  claimed  for  himself  the  most  cheerful 
views  of  his  departure,  and  the  eternity  lying  beyond 
it;  for  how  but  they  must  hold  an  appropriate  and  bene- 
ficent place  in  the  divine  economy?  It  was  in  the  like- 
ness of  a  spiritual  birth,  and  a  necessary  stage  in  human 
progress,  to  be  passed  as  we  would  pass  from  childhood 
to  youth,  and  from  youth  to  manhood,  and  with  the 
same  consciousness  of  an  ever  unfolding  nature.  Under 
this  view  it  was  no  dreaded  power  ;  but  a  part  of  the 
great  plan,  or  course  of  nature  ;  an  appointment  of  God 
as  much  as  life  itself ;  a  wise  and  good  appointment,  to 
be  met  as  such,  with  submission,  calmness  and  trust. 

It  seemed  to  him  a  most  mistaken  view,  that  in  our 
exit  from  this  world  we  are  lying  down  in  all  our 
powers  and  facilities  to  die ;  and  so  are  to  go  out  of 
being  eternally,  to  be  extinguished  as  a  soul  and  a 
spirit ;  and  not  rather  that  we  are  to  leap  forward  into 
a  higher  existence,  and  into  conditions  more  favorable 
than  those  we  are  experiencing  here,  and  in  which  Ave 
are  to  measure  on  in  the  forward  march  that  is  lying  be- 
fore us.  and  which  we  are  still  to  pass,  from  knowledge 
to  knowledge ;  from  wisdom  to  wisdom ;  increasing  for- 
ever and  forever.  The  demand  in  human  nature  for 
to-morrow,  and  for  life  to  be  continued  indefinitely,  he 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALOH.  309 

was  sure  was  stronger  than  and  every  other,  and  so 
what  was  to  the  materialist  the  extinction  of  all  being, 
became  to  him  the  gateway  to  an  endless  life ;  a  going 
forward  from  lower  to  higher;  the  goodly  prospect  ever 
enlarging,  each  preparing  for  the  one  that  was  to  come 
after. 

Life  on  this  earth  seemed  to  him  too  brief  to  develop 
the  full  estate  of  that  idea  which  God  has  expressed 
in  the  creation  of  man ;  and  from  its  very  incomplete- 
ness he  argued  its  continuance,  that  it  might  be  given 
the  opportunity  of  unfolding  itself  to  the  utmost  of  its 
capacity ;  of  attaining  whatever  of  knowledge,  of  virtue 
and  holiness  its  powers  would  admit  of.  This  was  at 
least  ground  for  strong  presumption  that  there  was 
some  further  progress :  some  sequel  yet  to  be  enacted. 
It  was  so  that  he  had  the  feeling  that  a  good  and  true 
life  ought  to  be  immortal,  since  to  strike  off  the  future 
beyond  this  sublunary  existence,  the  noble  life  especi- 
ally becomes  a  sadly  unfinished  thing.  There  are  no 
completed  lives  or  characters  in  this  short  period  of 
existence :  and  it  was  the  insight  and  suggestion  of  his 
moral  reason  that  these  unfinished  beo-innings  that 
pass  under  our  observation,  must  relate  to  perfection 
elsewhere.  If  we  went  not  beyond  the  present  with 
our  imperfections,  our  ignorance  and  trials  clinging  to 
us,  how  were  man  other  than  a  failure?  The  end  of 
his  existence  would  not  be  answered,  and  indeed  could 
not  be.  All  lives  would  be  wasted  lives,  and  every 
death  would  be  premature. 

With  such  a  view  it  will  be  readily  perceived  that 
death  is  no  catastrophe.  It  is  appalling,  we  know,  in 
certain  phases  of  it.  when  its  change  comes  over  loved 


310  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

ones  only  a  little  before  radiant  with  life,  and  filled 
with  animation  and  beauty.  As  such  we  stand  aghast 
at  it.  But  still  our  Brother  stood  ready  to  affirm  that, 
let  it  come  when  it  would  come,  in  whatever  manner, 
and  to  whomsoever  it  might,  it  never  came  as  a  calam- 
ity or  punishment ;  never  as  a  final  end,  out  of  which 
nothing  of  good  was  suffered  to  spriug,  but  generally 
as  a  relief,  and  always  as  a  stepping-stone  to  progress 
hereafter. 

ISTow  it  was  in  this  continued  existence  of  his  being, 
after  the  manner  we  have  described,  that  Mr.  Balch 
could  scarcely  be  said  to  entertain  a  doubt.  He  be- 
lieved it  with  all  the  force  of  assent  which  a  reflecting 
mind  is  capable  of  giving  to  any  subject  not  resting 
upon  absolute  demonstration.  He  believed  it,  because 
without  it,  as  I  said,  this  life  appeared  to  him  a  per- 
fectly unfinished  plan. 

Not  to  dwell  at  this  point,  I  find  my  thoughts  turn- 
ing back  to  December  26th,  1887,  when  after  a  short 
service  at  the  residence  of  the  deceased  there  was  gath- 
ered at  the  Baptist  church  a  large  assemblage  of  his 
fellow  citizens  and  friends  to  pay  once  again  the  tribute 
of  loving  respect,  when  a  brief  eulogy  was  pronounced 
by  the  writer  of  this,  and  a  very  cogent  inferential 
argument  for  immortality,  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
abiding  faith  and  trust,  was  given  in  an  address  by  the 
Bev.  Dr.  Keed,  after  which,  proceeding  to  the  cemetery, 
the  remains  borne  by  the  sons  and  sons-in  law,  an  ap- 
propriate and  impressive  service  was  spoken,  and  an 
affecting  farewell  taken.  And  as  we  left  our  trusted 
friend,  brother,  husband,  father,  to  sleep  as  it  were  in 
honored  dust,  we  felt  to  say,  4i  Peace  to  thy  ashes,  and 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  •  311 

respect  to  thy  memory,"  with  the  humble  prayer  that 
it  might  be  hallowed,  as  it  never  can  be  hallowed  or 
made  sacred  in  the  printed  page. 

To  supply  the  place  of  the  memorial  of  such  a  man 
requires  more  than  the  set  facts  of  a  biography,  for  the 
dates  and  details  presumably  at  one's  command  form 
but  a  feeble  clue  to  a  character  which  it  seems  pre- 
sumptuous to  attempt  to  analyze.  Anything  we  might 
say  of  our  brother  would  be  too  slight  and  imperfect  a 
tribute  to  one  who  has  added  such  honor  to  the  name 
he  bore  ;  who  has  so  adorned  the  sacred  literature  of 
his  country,  setting  a  deep  impress  of  his  mind  and 
character  upon  the  hearts  of  such  vast  multitudes,  and 
as  a  friend  being  lamented,  as  in  this  world  of  imperfect 
relations  but  few  have  ever  been  lamented. 

How  should  we  indeed  be  able  to  fully  appreciate 
the  labors  of  one  so  grand  and  true,  bearing  himself 
manfully  in  an  eminently  useful  career  which  has 
placed  him  in  the  sacred  role  of  noble  and  excellent 
characters ;  one  who  has  done  so  much  to  give  our 
church  a  standing  in  the  world,  serving  it  with  a  most 
singular  devotion,  that  shall  cause  his  name  and  charac- 
ter to  shine  with  an  ever-brightening  lustre.  But  few 
names  have  ever  deserved  to  be,  or  will  be,  more  cher- 
ished in  grateful  remembrance  than  that  of  Win.  S. 
Balch.  But  few  have  known  the  honored  space  he  has 
filled  for  more  than  an  entire  generation,  as  generations 
are  reckoned,  and  among  the  fathers  of  our  ministry; 
or  the  general  regard,  respect  and  deference  in  which 
he  has  been  h olden  as  an  enduring  monument  of  his 
faithfulness. 

Our  church  has  never  had  within   its  borders  a  per- 


312  THE    LIFE  AND    LABORS    OF 

son  more  consecrated  to  the  one  purpose  of  making  the 
race  loving  and  happy  ;  for  has  he  not  given  his  all  to 
human  needs  and  welfare  ?  Of  the  impression  he  has 
made  upon  all  our  hearts,  and  of  his  world-wide  influ- 
ence, we  shall  only  come  to  know  better  and  better  as 
the  years  go  by.  Of  how  many  lives  can  it  ever  be 
told,  so  well  rounded  out  into  completeness  and  useful- 
ness ;  so  grown  up  into  genuine,  Christian  manhood, 
rightly  developed  by  the  divine  life  of  goodness  in  every 
faculty  of  his  being.  Has  he  not  been  a  sort  of  "  living 
epistle  known  and  read  of  all  men,"  in  having  been  a 
leader,  a  vital  force  and  concrete  power  unto  salva- 
tion to  every  one  that  believeth  ?  and  though  dead,  will 
he  not  yet  speak  to  us  by  an  example  such  as  goes 
preaching  on  with  persuasive  power  long  after  the  lips 
are  silent,  and  the  eloquence  of  speech  forgotten,  the 
example  of  a  good,  true  and  noble  life  ? 

Aye,  he  has  lived  long  and  nobly,  fulfilling  faithfully 
his  appointed  years  of  service,  doing  what  he  could  do 
to  recall  the  attention  of  men  from  their  creeds  and 
dogmas  of  speculative  faith,  from  their  forms  and  cere- 
monies, and  fastings  and  outward  observances,  to  the 
exercise  of  a  real,  genuine  love  to  God  and  man,  such 
as  will  prompt  to  the  performance  of  the  great  practi- 
cal duties  of  life.  He  has  taught  that  religion  is  some- 
thing more  than  the  assent  of  the  mind  to  a  system  ; 
something  more  than  the  exercise  of  devotional  feel- 
ings, and  emotions  in  the  heart ;  that  it  is  love  and 
mercv  and  forgiveness  to  man :  ;and  that  its  fruits  are 

«/  CD  J 

the  fruits  of  peace,  joy,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, truth  and  benevolence ;  such  as  is  approved  in  the 
sight  of  all  honest  principle,  and  before  God  and  the 
Father,  as  the  primary  Author  of  the  Christian  system. 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BAL1H.  313 

In  truth  he  believed,  that  the  only  all-important  con- 
cern of  a  man  was  to  be  good  and  do  good  ;  to  seek 
for  the  best,  and  do  for  the  best,  now  to-day,  to-morrow 
and  always.  His  faith  led  him  to  respect  all  good 
men ;  not  religious  men  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the 
word  particularly,  but  men  of  virtuous  lives,  true  to 
their  integrity,  useful,  kind-hearted  men,  above  a  mean, 
sordid  action.  It  led  him  to  detest  all  cant,  all  mere 
professions  and  sanctimoniousness.  He  thought  far 
less  of  the  outward  signs  and  forms  of  religion  than 
most  men ;  but  it  was  because  he  honored  the  real 
spirit  of  religion  the  more.  He  was  not  content,  like 
thousands  of  others,  to  pass  away  from  earth,  leaving 
no  trace  of  good  behind  him  ;  but  would  do  something 
for  the  cause  of  virtue  and  the  happiness  of  his  fellow 
men,  and  so  made  his  life  one  of  good  motives  and 
good  deeds;  of  usefulness,  honesty,  integrity  and  truth- 
fulness. 

The  number  of  persons  is  never  large,  who  will  give 
their  entire  lives  to  the  doing  of  good.  And  we  do 
pray  for  the  appearance  of  other  such,  as  the  world- 
wide want  of  our  natures,  to  be  consecrated  to  the 
cause  which  had  his  whole  heart.  Every  person  who 
has  known  our  brother  is  the  better  and  happier  for  it. 
And  oh,  to  make  others  happier,  and  the  world  better, 
what  so  grateful  a  service.  I  trust  it  may  be  our  priv- 
ilege to  remember  him  as  ha  vino-  had  largely  to  do 
with  all  the  manifold  interests  interwoven  with  the 
life  of  society,  and  working  for  the  common  good. 
May  we  look  back  upon  him  as  upon  the  loss  of  a 
leader  whom  it  is  our  greatest  excellence  and  honor  to 
cherish,  and  whom  we  have  never  seen  but  to  be  made 


314:  THE    LIFE   AND    LABORS    OF 

glad.  If  I  have  succeeded  in  presenting  only  a  toler- 
ably faithful  picture  of  him.  I  shall  be  sure  of  his  hold- 
ing a  high  place  in  the  enrollment  of  the  many  worthies 
that  have  done  honor  to  our  cause.  We  trust  that  the 
young  men  for  whom  the  work  was  planned  by  Mr. 
Balch  himself,  that  it  might  do  them  a  much-needed 
service,  may  learn  from  it  the  strength  and  beauty  of  a 
consecrated  life. 

It  is  a  welcome  thought  that  the  hearts  of  so  man}T 
have  been  moved  by  him,  and  that  he  has  been  made 
the  theme  of  numerous  discourses,  giving  more  or  less 
full  accounts  of  his  life  and  labors,  as  one  who  has  been 
greatly  loved,  honored  and  trusted. 

Among  the  first  to  speak  of  him  outside  of  the  local 
home  press,  was  the  organ  of  the  denomination  for  the 
Western  Branch  of  the  Publishing  House,  in  its  forth- 
coming issue,  and  after  remarking  that  the  event  was 
unexpected  to  the  general  public,  and  that  it  was  yet 
without  particulars  as  to  the  cause  of  his  death,  it  gave 
forth  the  following  utterance  :  "  Dr.  Balch  descends 
to  the  grave  in  the  impressive  figure  of  the  Scriptures, 
"  as  a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe."  His  history  is  indis- 
solubly  connected  with  that  of  Universalism  in  the 
New  England,  the  Middle,  and  the  Western  States. 
Wherever  Universalism  is  known  as  an  organized  body 
of  Christian  believers,  William  S.  Balch  was  known. 
Intelligence  of  his  death  will  find  mourners  all  over  our 
Zion.  He  was  highly  honored  for  his  steadfast  adher- 
ence to  the  principles  of  our  faith  as  a  minister  for 
over  sixty  years.  And  we  may  add  that  the  man  was 
also  widely  eteemed  for  solid  and  attractive  qualities, 
which  linked   many  friends   to  him   as  with  hooks  of 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  315 

steel.  He  now  leaves  these  earthly  scenes  in  which  he 
was  so  conspicuous  a  figure,  even  in  a  venerable  old 
age,  and  there  are  many  outside  a  large  and  devoted 
family  circle,  who  will  mourn  his  departure." 

A  paper  from  Dubuque,  Iowa,  but  echoes  the  sen- 
timent of  multitudes  of  others  from  various  parts  of  the 
land,  in  saying.  £*  The  death  of  Doctor  Balch  is  a 
personal  bereavement  to  a  large  circle  of  friends 
scattered  from  Maine  to  California,  and  will  bring 
sorrow  to  the  hearts  of  the  membership  of  the  Univer- 
salist  church  throughout  the  country." 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  of  his  death,  there  came 
letters  of  condolence  to  Mrs.  Balch  from  many  sym- 
pathizing friends.  As  a  specimen  character  of  some  of 
these  I  present  the  following.  Eev.  H.  D.  L.  Webster 
wrote.  "  The  loss  seems  a  personal  one  to  us  all.  We 
esteemed  him  as  one  so  rich  in  experience,  so  learned 
in  the  lore  that  adds  lustre  to  the  clerical  profession, 
that  we  were  glad  to  call  him  our  leader.  Xo  one  of 
our  many  popular  and  great  men  in  the  ministry  will 
be  more  missed." 

Dr.  Tuttle  proffered  tenderest  sympathy  in  a  mis- 
sive in  which  he  said,  "Brother  Balch  wrote  me  so 
kindly  in  my  sad  bereavement  that  I  cannot  but  be 
mindful  of  you  in  your  sore  trial,  and  please  accept  my 
every  assurance  of  esteem." 

The  words  of  Dr.  Rexford  were,  4iYou  will  not  need 
that  I  should  tell  you  of  my  sorrow  at  the  death  of 
Brother  Balch.  for  I  had  great  esteem  and  love  for 
him,  and  have  been  made  stronger  because  of  him;  and 
I  would  desire  that  what  help  may  be  in  a  brother's 
sympathy,  and  a  most  heartfelt   wish,  may   be    taken 


316  THE    LIFE   AND    LABORS    OF 

from  my  heart  by  one  who  is  so  stricken  by  the  event 
of  his  death." 

Also  Brother  Manley  W.  Tabor.  "He  has  earned 
his  release  from  service.  A  noble,  valiant  soldier  in 
truth's  army  has  he  been,  and  no  small  factor  in  the 
bringing  to  pass  the  success,  the  honor,  the  high  estate 
which  the  Universalist  church  rejoices  in  to-day.  His 
standing  protest  against  narrowness  in  thinking  and 
believing;  against  all  assumption  of  ecclesiastical 
authority;  were  a  fitting  close  of  a  life's  work,  written 
in  the  name  of  liberty  and  reform.  It  is  with  thank- 
fulness and  pride  that  I  think  of  his  manly  Christian 
position,  and  his  unswerving  loyalty  to  principle.  It 
has  not  been  in  vain,  for  as  leaven  is  it  working  in  our 
midst,  and  will  work  till  all  shall  be  leavened." 

A  brother  minister  who  shall  be  nameless,  wrote 
Mrs.  Balch,  "He  is  the  only  man  whom  I  ever  really 
loved,  and  it  is  my  sincere  and  deep  affection  for  him 
that  causes  me  at  this  time  to  intrude  upon  you.  He 
was  more  to  me  in  his  interest  in  what  I  am  attempt- 
ing to  do;  in  his  kindly  criticism  and  forbearance  than 
my  father  ever  has  been;  and  in  my  heart,  since  I  came 
to  know  and  appreciate  him  for  what  he  was,  he  has 
held  the  first  place.  Thus  to  me  it  has  been  as  a  son's 
loss  to  his  father,  rather  than  the  going  awav  from 
sight  and  touch  of  a  friend." 

As  I  sent  out  proposals  for  this  Memoir,  I  can 
hardly  tell  you  of  the  many  good  words  and  testi- 
monials of  warmest  personal  regard  that  came  pouring 
in  to  me,  some  of  which  I  have  included  in  previous 
chapters  of  the  work,  and  will  proceed  to  give  other 
portions  of  these   here.      There    were  those  to  ask  it 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  317 

as  a  favor  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  pen  some 
word  of  affection  and  commendation  of  a  life  that  had 
been  an  inspiration  to  them,  and  whose  personal 
friendship  they  counted  as  one  of  their  choicest  treas- 
ures. I  was  made  the  recipient  of  numerous  letters 
from  old  and  young,  scattered  widely  over  the  country, 
telling  me  in  more  than  a  single  instance  of  their  being- 
taught  in  their  earliest  childhood  to  reverence  the  man 
who  had  blessed  so  many.  Miss  Eva  J.  Stickney,  of 
Sioux  Falls,  Dakota,  wrote  to  inform  me  that  her 
father  and  Mr.  Balch  were  boys  together,  and  laid  their 
plans  of  life  together ;  and  "  as  children  they  were 
taught  to  regard  Mr.  Balch  wTith  the  utmost  veneration 
and  esteem ;  a  feeling  that  had  been  strengthened  by 
the  closer  acquaintance  of  later  years."  A  niece  of 
Rev.  Otis  A.  Skinner  sent  me  a  line  from  Kansas, 
giving  reminiscences  of  her  mother  in  the  eighty-fourth 
year  of  her  age,  in  which  incidents  are  related  of 
Brothers  Skinner  and  Balch  having  studied  together, 
with  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Loveland,  and  the  love  and  ten- 
derness with  which  they  regarded  each  other  as  being 
characteristically  beautiful  of  the  hearts  of  both.  She 
is  at  pains  to  relate  the  following:  "  The  last  time  my 
mother  saw  Brother  Balch  was  in  his  calling  upon  her, 
on  the  eve  of  our  departure  from  our  eastern  home  in 
Vermont,  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  Placing  his  hand 
affectionately  on  her  shoulder,  he  said,  '  God  bless  you, 
Martha,'  for  they  were  such  tried  and  trusted  friends 
that  thev  always  cluno*  to  the  familiar  wav  of  addressing 
each  other  by  their  Christian  names."  This  was  Brother 
Balch's  custom  ;  always  so  free-hearted  and  simple- 
mannered,  that  no  one  could  help  greatly  loving  him. 
21 


318  THE  lifp:  axd  labors  of 

Of  the  many  letters  that  have  come  to  my  hands.  I 
may  make  extracts  from  but  very  few,  which  are  a  fair 
sample  of  the  whole  number.  In  responding  promptly 
to  a  letter  of  my  own,  Brother  Dinsmore  wrote: 

"You  ask  me  to  give  something  out  of  my  memory 
regarding  our  good  brother.  What  can  I  say  \  I  sel- 
dom saw  him  except  at  public  gatherings,  and  then  but 
a  few  times  in  my  life.  But  I  learned  to  prize  and 
honor  him  above  many,  and  indeed  most  of  the  minis- 
ters I  have  known.  I  think  of  him  somehow  as  I  im- 
agine the  second  generation  of  Christians  at  Ephesus, 
as  the  first  hundred  years  of  the  church  were  declining 
to  a  close,  must  have  thought  of  the  Apostle  JohrT. 
They  thought  of  him  as  the  last  who  had  seen  the 
Lord.  I  thought  of  Father  Balch  as  the  last  who  had 
seen  the  early  days  of  the  church  which  I  so  loved. 
He  was  the  last  who  had  been  called  to  pass  through 
the  deep  waters  for  the  precious  faith.  I  revered  him 
for  his  strong  and  noble  spirit,  and  his  broad  under- 
standing of  the  work  of  the  ministry.  I  loved  him 
for  the  kindness  and  peace  of  his  character.  He  was 
a  strong,  but  a  peaceful  soul.  He  was  above  doubt 
and  dismay.  I  dare  not  attempt  an  analysis  of  his 
character  ;  but  this  much  I  may  say.  '  He  was  great  in 
his  simplicity,  his  transparent  heart  and  soul.  He  is 
gone,  and  his  works  will  follow  him.' " 

In  a  line  from  Brother  Francis,  he  tells  us : 

"  My  remembrance  of  Dr.  Balch  reaches  back  to  the 
time  when  he  was  the  Universaiist  minister  of  Water- 
town.  Mass.,  about  1830.  I  went  with  my  father  one 
Sunday  afternoon  to  hear  him  preach ;  and  the  im- 
pression of  earnestness,  sincerity  and  devoted ness  lin- 
gers yet  in  my  mind.  Years  went  by  and  I  became 
personally  acquainted  with  him.  After  I  engaged  in 
the  ministry.  I  always  received  his  kindly  o-reetinos 
and  words  of  encouragement,  whenever  we  chanced  to 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    UALCH.  319 

meet,  as  later  in  life  Ave  frequently  did.     He  was  ever 
the  same  warm-hearted  brother  and    friend." 

In  a  somewhat  different,  bnl  a  more  eulogistic  strain, 
Brother  Shrigley  speaks : 

"Nearly  sixty  years  have  passed  since  I  heard  Brother 
Balch  preach  in  Putney,  Vt..  and  although  his  testi- 
mony was  in  accord  with  my  previous  religious  con- 
victions. I  could  have  shouted  for  joy  at  the  good 
words  he  uttered.  It  was  the  first  sermon  in  defence 
of  the  linal  triumph  of  the  good  and  true  over  all  evil 
I  ever  heard  from  human  Lips  ;  and  never  can  I  forget 
how  precious  tome  was  that  testimony.  It  was  the 
period  of  the  opening  chapter  of  Universalism  in  this 
country,  and  our  good  Brother  Balch  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  figures  in  that  generation,  strong  in 
his  arguments,  and  so  simple  in  his  words,  and  in  the 
construction  of  his  sentences,  that  even  a  child  would 
have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  him.  Few  were 
more  happy  in  illustrating  and  defending  the  Gospel  of 
peace  and  love,  and  as  an  efficient  public  speaker  he 
was  scarcely  second  to  any  other  speaker  from  any 
platform.  We  may  say  of  him  that  he  has  lived  a  life 
of  spotless  integrity  ;  sound  in  his  religious  opinions, 
loved  best  by  those  who  knew  him  best,  and  one  of 
the  ablest  preachers  on  the  American  continent.  This 
is  saying  very  much  of  him  ;  but  none  too  much  ;  for  it 
is  every  word  true.  It  seemed  often  to  me.  in  listening 
to  him.  as  if  he  was  unable  to  check  the  hopeful  words' 
that  fell  from  his  lips.  They  rolled  out  and  on  in  such 
perfect  torrents  of  sacred  eloquence,  as  completely  as- 
tonished all  who  heard  him.  And  what  changes  our 
brother  had  witnessed  during  his  long  and  eventful  life, 
and  how  much  he  had  done  to  bring  about  those 
changes  which  are  now  visible  in  almost  every  church 
creed  in  the  land.  I  do  not  know  the  man  that  has 
done  more  for  our  cause,  and  no  one  certainly  has  been 
more  faithful." 


320  THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF 

Judge  Adams  of  Dubuque,  Iowa,  tells  of  paying  a 
visit  to  the  East  in  the  summer  of  1887,  and  passing  by 
Brother  Balch's  home  in  Andover,  Vermont.  It  had 
been  sixty  years  since  he  lived  there;  and  he  says: 
"  Seeing  a  man  not  far  from  the  wayside  I  stopped  and 
said,  Do  you  know  Dr.  Baich  \  And  the  answer 
came,  Perfectly.  Eveiy  one  knows  him  about  here, 
and  respects  him,  too.  And  when  I  told  him  I  lived 
neighbor  to  him — which  in  the  West  was  only  about 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles — that  was  enough;  I  needed 
no  other  introduction." 

Prof.  Lee,  of  the  St.  Lawrence  University,  had 
asked  on  a  former  occasion  to  be  allowed  to  relate  a 
personal  incident,  and  gave  what  follows:  "When  I 
was  ten  years  old  I  beard  Universalism  preached  for 
the  first  time  from  his  lips.  Little  did  he  think 
on  that  occasion,  in  an  obscure  village  of  Vermont,  in 
that  five  o'clock  Sunday  afternoon  service,  he  was 
awakening  in  that  boy's  mind  a  deep  interest  in  that 
faith,  then  so  despised,  now  so  honored,  which  has 
done  so  much  to  enlighten  the  world.'' 

Dr.  Sawyer,  whom  I  must  especially  mention  with 
favor,  as  having  indulged  me  in  quite  a  correspondence, 
and  assured  me  that  if  I  wished  any  information  from 
him  I  had  only  to  ask  any  question  I  pleased,  and  he 
would  answer  as  well  as  he  could,  has  this,  in  addition 
to  other  matters  distributed  throughout  the  work  : 

"  Through  three-quarters  of  his  life  it  has  been  my 
privilege  to  enjoy  his  acquaintance  and  friendship. 
Though  his  senior  by  two  years  and  a  quarter,  he  was 
in  the  ministry  a  year  or  two  before  me,  and  our  lives 
have  been  in  many  ways  connected ;  and  it  affords  me 


REV.  WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  321 

peculiar  satisfaction  to  acknowledge  my  obligations  to 
him  for  financial  aid  when  leaving  college  burdened 
with  debt,  and  also  with  advice  and  assistance  in  enter- 
ing the  ministry.  He  was  my  theological  tutor,  and 
instrumental  in  getting  me  ordained.  Thus,  you  see, 
that  Brother  Balch  was  a  kind  of  godfather  to  me. 
For  many  years  we  were  yoke-fellows  in  the  neigh- 
boring parishes  in  New  York  City,  at  a  time  when  our 
faith  had  not  only  more,  but  more  zealous  opponents 
than  now,  and  our  lives  were  little  else  than  a  strife 
with  those  of  the  contrary  part.  I  thank  God  for  his 
long  life,  and  for  the  faithful  service  he  has  done  our 
church  and  the  great  cause  for  which  it  stands." 

It  was  his  pen  that  drew  the  series  of  resolutions 
passed  by  the  ministers'  meeting  of  Boston  and  vici- 
nity, in  which  they  speak  of  "  the  high  endowments 
of  his  mind  and  heart ;  of  his  long  and  active  life,  and 
the  many-handed  and  eminent  services  he  has  rendered 
to  our  church,  and  the  best  interests  of  society  at  large; 
of  the  benign  and  lasting  influences  he  has  exerted 
upon  his  day  and  generation,  and  the  untarnished 
Christian  character  he  has  maintained  through  a  pub- 
lic ministry  of  sixty  years." 

This  body  was  followed  by  others,  and  notably 
by  the  Chicago  Ministerial  Association  convened  March 
19,  1888. 

"Whereas,  Our  much  honored  brother,  William  S. 
Balch,  has  been  called  away  from  his  home  on  earth 
to  the  higher  and  better  spirit  life,  and  to  brighter, 
more  joyous,  and  active  scenes  of  happiness,  and  we 
are  to  meet  him  no  more  in  the  family  circle  and  in 
the  social  gathering,  and  are  to  have  his  counsel,  his 
assistance  and  cooperation  no  more  in  society  and  the 
church ;   therefore. 

"  Resolved,  that  it  is  a  most  willing  duty  we  perform, 


322  THE    LIFP;    AND    LABORS    OF 

to  express  our  high  regard  for  him  who  has  passed  on  be- 
fore us  ;  to  recall  the  many  excellent  traits  of  charac- 
ter for  which  he  was  distinguished,  and  the  many  good 
deeds  which  he  cheerfully  performed,  as  well  as  the 
great  work  he  has  done  for  enlightened  and  liberal 
Christianity,  and  which  has  given  him  such  potent 
sway  over  all  our  hearts. 

"Resolved,  That  while  our  bosoms  have  been  thrilled 
and  rapt  with  delight  in  listening  to  his  many  golden 
thoughts  and  his  most  eloquent  appeals,  yet  we  revere 
his  memory  in  nothing  so  much  as  for  his  beneficent 
gifjts,  and  his  benignly  wrought  inliuences  by  which 
his  name  and  fame  have  so  marked  him  as  a  pattern  for 
us  to  follow,  and  which  made  him  so  worthy  the  love 
and  esteem  of  all  men  everywhere. 

^Resolved,  That  we  look  upon  him  as  having  been  a 
clear,  strong  thinker;  a  guide,  a  teacher  and  leader,  a 
devoted,  affectionate  and  faithful  working  pastor;  under 
whose  ministrations,  replete  with  instruction,  the  cause 
of  God  has  been  greatly  blessed,  and  the  shackles  re- 
moved from  many  imprisoned  minds  and  hearts. 

"Resolved,  That  he  having  proved  such  a  champion 
for  the  cause,  in  valiant  services  done  for  truth  and 
righteousness,  and  won  such  life-Ion  g  friends  and  friend- 
ships,  by  efforts  never  to  die  in  their  consequences,  we 
are  proud  to  do  him  this  honor  of  paying  humble  trib- 
ute to  his  worth,  and  in  standing  by  the  side  of  him  who 
has  toiled  so  earnestly  and  diligently  all  these  years. 

"Resolved,  That  we  but  too  feebly  express  the  sorrow 
of  our  hearts  at  this  link  of  his  life  being  broken, 
while  we  send  our  sincere  "  God  bless  you  "  to  the  dear 
ones  left  behind,  asking  that  Heaven' s  choicest  favor 
may  be  with  all  who  were  allied  to  him  in  closest  bonds 
of  family  and  filial  attachment,  though  not  grieving 
for  him  whose  life  was  so  worn  and  oppressed  with  dis- 
ease and  pain,  for  here  was  no  room  for  tears. 

"  For  when  his  arm  grew  palsied,  and  his  eye 
Dark  with  the  mists  of  age,  it  wTas  his  time  to  die." 


REV.   WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH.  323 

Commemorative  services  were  held  also,  ami  resolu- 
tions passed  by  nearly  all  of  the  several  churches  over 

which  he  had  been  settled  as  pastor.  They  would  to- 
gether form  quite  a  list,  testifying  to  the  faithful  services 
he  has  rendered  our  Zion.  The  last  of  these,  the  church 
at  Dubuque,  was  the  first  to  speak,  and  then  followed 
others  till  they  had  gone  the  round  of  the  different 
churches  that  were  included  in  this  category.  The 
church  at  Dubuque  did  not  feel  that  they  could  well 
over-estimate  the  good  results  of  his  presence  and.  labors 
in  behalf  of  the  cause  in  their  midst.  In  a  memorial 
service  Judge  Adams,  with  several  others  speaking, 
gave  expression  to  the  general  feeling  and  sentiment  in 
this  wise.  "  The  Universalist  denomination,  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  takes  notice  of  his  death,  and 
mourns  his  loss.  The  denomintion,  it  is  true,  contains 
other  great  and  good  men,  but  it  contains  no  other  Dr. 
Balch,  and  never  can.  lie  is  identified  with  its  history 
in  a  peculiar  manner,  and  will  be  remembered  as  its 
fitting  representative  beyond  that  of  any  other  now  re- 
maining in  our  midst.  Others  perhaps  have  done  a 
great  work  in  controversial  theology,  but  no  man  stands 
as  a  better  exemplification  of  all  that  is  most  beautiful 
and  lovely  in  the  religion  which  he  professed." 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Universalist  church 
in  Elgin,  after  attending  to  other  business  of  the  meet- 
ing, the  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  the  trus- 
tees, and  unanimously  adopted  : 

;t  The  memorv  of  a  good  man  is  the  heritage  of 
the  world.  The^Eev.  W.  S.  Balch.  who  lately  died 
in  our  midst,  has  added  to  the  word's  heritage  a  legacy 
of  memory  and  of  blessing  such  as  few  men  ever  leave. 


324  THE    LIFE  AND    LABOKS    OF 

His  sixty  years  of  public  ministration  have  been  of  a 
character  such  as  only  a  noble,  cultivated  mind  and  a 
pure  and  lofty  spirit  could  give.  His  social  life  has 
been  pure,  peaceable  and  just.  Here  he  has  set  an  ex- 
ample which  to  follow  would  place  the  crown  of  hap- 
piness upon  home.  As  pastor  to  this  people  he  ever 
was  leading  toward  the  best  ideals  in  life,  and  seeking 
to  mould  the  minds  and  spirits  of  his  flock  into  the 
kindly  affection,  the  brotherly  love  and  the  exalted  no- 
bility in  which  he  had  a  supreme  confidence.  As  a 
friend  he  was  steadfast,  sincere  and  noble.  As  a  coun- 
selor he  was  wise,  discreet  and  safe.  His  work  in  the 
world  was  always  stamped  by  the  broad  and  indepen- 
dent character  of  the  man.  He  wrought  not  by  ordi- 
nary methods  ;  his  own  strength  was  always  that  upon 
which  it  was  turned,  and  his  ideals  were  so  perfect  and 
so  faithfully  followed  that  when  bis  work  was  done  it 
presented  the  finish  of  his  master  mind.  Mr.  Balch 
was  impatient  with  creeds.  He  refused  to  set  any 
limit  to  the  power  and  love  of  God,  and  his  ideal  was  the 
perfect  manhood  of  the  perfect  man.  The  full  ripened 
grain  has  been  gathered.  We  rejoice  in  the  harvest, 
knowing  that  in  the  garner  is  a  store  of  example  of 
courageous  and  exalted  living  that  we  can  safely  copy. 
The  ways  of  life  have  been  trod  by  no  man  more  manly 
than  he.  The  work  of  no  one  life  has  been  rounded 
up  and  made  complete  in  a  more  gracious  symmetry 
than  was  the  life  work  of  our  friend  at  the  close  of  his 
more  than  four  score  years.  The  end  is  not — his  elo- 
quent tongue  yet  speaks — the  waves  of  influence  from 
his  revered  memory  are  ever  widening  and  broadening, 
bearing  their  blessings.  Time  can  but  add  to  their 
richness  and  eternity  only  can  disclose  all  their  wealth. 
"  We  hereby  resolve  to  place  this  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory upon  the  records  of  our  church." 

But  no  more  glowing  tribute  has  been  paid  to  any 
one  in  our   denomination,  than  was    the    testimonial 


REV.  WILLIAM    BTEVENfi    BALCH.  325 

Reception  and  Banquet  given  him  by  the  Ministerial 
Association  in  Chicago,  April  12,  1886,  upon  the 
eightieth  anniversary  of  his  birth.  It  was  an  occasion 
o'f  great  interest,  and  a  fit  recognition  of  the  worth  of 
the  man.  How  could  there  be  any  more  remarkable 
success  in  doing  him  honor,  when  as  it  was  thought 
there  were  nearly  three  hundred  present,  and  from 
several  States,  to  offer  their  congratulations  and  pay 
their  respects  to  the  guest  of  the  evening. 

It  were  well  if  the  memory  of  the  just  was  always 
so  blest  in  the  hearts  of  the  living.  How  many  unbid- 
den tears  have  been  caused  to  flow  as  a  tribute  to  his 
memory  we  shall  never  know,  for  we  do  not  know  the 
measure  of  a  long  and  valued  life  of  usefulness.  There 
was  something  divinely  beautiful  in  his  unaffected, 
genial  companionship,  leading  men  into  the  light  of 
truth  and  the  love  and  practice  of  goodness,  to  cause 
him  to  linger  long  in  our  thoughts,  giving  him  an 
honored  place  among  us,  and  making  the  world  proud 
to  be  his  friend. 

In  letting  this  work  go  from  our  hands,  may  we  not 
ask  what  is  the  whole  simple  message  that  such  a  life, 
such  a  death,  and  such  a  memory  bears  to  us  I  Is  not  the 
one  all-surpassing  truth  that  beams  out  from  it  this: 
the  supreme  worth  of  goodness  \  Here  is  certainly  test  i- 
mony  to  its  value.  Here  is  an  instance  of  its  triumph, 
and  a  pledge  of  its  immortality.  Can  we  not  say  that 
nothing  reaches  so  far.  nothing  tells  so  mightily,  and 
nothing  so  spreads  the  glory  of  heaven  over  the  com- 
mon places  of  earth  as  the  plain,  good  man,  or  . 
woman  1  Let  us  try  and  Learn  this  great  moral  ! 
which  we  derive  from  the  review  of  this  good  man's 


326  •  EEV.    WILLIAM    STEVENS    BALCH. 

life,  which  is  that  of  usefulness,  practical  good  will,  the 
promotion  of  industry,  order,  virtue,  social  progress 
and  social  happiness,  developing  all  the  resources  God 
has  placed  at  our  disposal. 

Some  one  has  asked  that,  when  they  shall  rear  the 
marble  column  that  is  to  mark  the  resting  place  of 
Eev.  Wm.  S.  S.  Balch,  there  shall  be  inscribed  upon 
it  the  words  which  tell  the  whole  story  of  his  life, 
"He  loved  his  fellow  men."  But  he  himself  has  ex- 
pressed in  as  choice  a  form  of  words  as  can  be,  the  fol- 
lowing: "When  a  few  more  years  are  past,  and  my 
earthly  form  is  laid  to  its  final  rest,  I  have  sometimes 
dared  to  hope  that  some  whom  I  have  sought  to  instruct, 
comfort  and  bless,  will  gather  at  my  grave,  and  in 
their  deep  soul's  feeling  say  of  me,  "  He  did  not  live 
and  labor  in  vain." 


— — 


K5 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 
B.B1743S  C001 

THE  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF  THE  LATE  REV  WIL 


